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on Economics of Ageing |
| By: | Nie, Peng (Xi’an Jiaotong University); Zhang, Bin; Ding, Lanlin (Peking University); Sousa-Poza, Alfonso (University of Hohenheim) |
| Abstract: | Leveraging nationally representative data from the 2011-2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study (CLHLS), this study examines the impact of spousal death on long-term care (LTC) needs among Chinese older adults aged 60 and above. Our results show that spousal bereavement significantly increases the probability of LTC needs by 5.0-9.1 percentage points across severity levels (low, medium, and high). Such adverse effects are much stronger among older individuals aged 75+. Our mechanism analysis identifies three key pathways through which spousal bereavement increases LTC needs, including the loss of primary caregiving, worsened emotional stress, and increased healthcare utilization especially for inpatient costs. Our findings highlight the urgent need for targeted LTC policies that support vulnerable widowed populations, particularly older widows. |
| Keywords: | emotional stress, primary caregiving, long-term care needs, spousal bereavement, healthcare utilization |
| JEL: | J12 J14 H55 I12 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17967 |
| By: | Hen Ya; Giulia La Mattina; Cristina Bellés Obrero |
| Abstract: | The prevalence and determinants of intimate partner violence (IPV) among older women are understudied. This paper documents that the incidence of IPV remains high at old ages and provides the first evidence of the impact of access to income on IPV for older women. We leverage a Mexican reform that lowered the eligibility age for a non-contributory pension and a difference-in-differences approach. Women's eligibility for the pension increases their probability of being subjected to economic, psychological, and physical/sexual IPV. In contrast, we show that IPV does not increase when men become eligible. Looking at potential mechanisms, we find suggestive evidence that men use violence as a tool to control women's resources. Additionally, women reduce paid employment after becoming eligible for the pension, which may indicate that they spend more time at home, leading to greater exposure to potentially violent partners. |
| Keywords: | Retirement, income, Non-contributory pension |
| JEL: | H55 I38 J12 J26 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1491 |
| By: | An, Jun-Hee (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management) |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiutis:0c2b3e40-89d4-4b5d-b026-510c5e33579b |
| By: | Margherita Borella; Mariacristina De Nardi; Johanna P. Torres Chain; Fang Yang |
| Abstract: | This paper develops and estimates a dynamic life-cycle model to quantify why households save and work. The model incorporates multiple sources of risk—health, marital status, wages, medical expenses and mortality—as well as endogenous labor supply and human capital accumulation, retirement, and bequest motives at the death of the first and last household member. We estimate it using PSID and HRS data for the 1941–1945 cohort via the Method of Simulated Moments. Eliminating bequest motives reduces aggregate wealth by 23.8% and labor earnings by 1.2%; removing medical expenses lowers them by 13.1% and 0.7%. Wage risk is crucial for early-life saving: its removal reduces wealth by 10.4% but raises earnings by 2.3%. Eliminating marriage and divorce dynamics leads couples—numerous and wealthier—to save and work slightly less, and singles—fewer and poorer—to save and work considerably more. These effects largely offset in the aggregate. Removing all saving motives beyond retirement needs and lifespan uncertainty lowers wealth by 56.9% and earnings by 2.7%. These findings show that capturing multiple risks and behavioral margins jointly is essential to understanding household saving and labor supply. |
| Keywords: | savings; labor supply; couples; singles; precautionary savings; bequest motives; medical expenses |
| JEL: | E20 I1 J0 |
| Date: | 2025–07–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:feddwp:101316 |
| By: | Enriqueta Camps |
| Abstract: | In this paper we account for the early demographic transition of Catalonia and impact on population ageing and productivity levels. Female vocational training and female real wage increase during the first third of the 20th century, high female participation levels in the workforce and the influence of libertarian practices of fertility control seem to be the main reasons of low fertility levels (below replacement) during the first third of the 20th century. The sustained low fertility trend has resulted in a high dependency ratio during the first decades of the 21st century caused in turn by longevity The high proportion of dependents on population has as a result the small adequacy of GDP per capita to measure the evolution of productivity levels during the 21st century. |
| Keywords: | economic growth, fertility, Gender Gap, Longevity |
| JEL: | A11 A12 I15 J11 N3 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1498 |
| By: | Schindler, Yannick; Scott, Andrew J. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the macroeconomic impact of chronic disease in the United Kingdom (UK). We use individual-level data to estimate how diagnoses of six major diseases affect labor market transitions and combine these with a tractable growth model with age-specific productivity and labor force participation to quantify the impact of chronic disease on UK economic growth. Using a novel machine learning approach to classify National Health Service (NHS) cost data, we also provide new estimates of disease-specific treatment costs. Our findings indicate that a 20% reduction in disease incidence would increase annual GDP by 0.99% after five years and 1.51% after ten years. Most of the gains are due to increased participation in the labor force, especially among workers aged 50 to 65 years. Reductions in mental health conditions and musculoskeletal conditions contribute the most to these effects. Our analysis points to three important features of preventative health policies: (1) the potential welfare gains are substantial and manifest themselves in terms of both improved population health and increased output growth, (2) only around 40% of long-term effects appear after five years, and (3) the 50–65 age group experiences the largest labor force participation gains. This last feature is due to two factors: improved health at those ages prevents transitions into health-related inactivity and a larger share of workers reaches this age band as a result of reduced transitions into inactivity at earlier ages. This compounding effect underscores the importance of targeting prevention efforts at earlier ages. |
| Keywords: | aging population; chronic disease; economic growth; health; labor market transitions |
| JEL: | J11 J21 O40 |
| Date: | 2025–12–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:128627 |
| By: | Klein, Lisa; Lersch, Philipp M. (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin); Longmuir, Max |
| Abstract: | The role of demographic change for wealth inequality remains underexplored. This study analyzes how shifts in population aging, immigration, partnership status, educational attainment, and female labor force participation influenced wealth inequality in West Germany between 1988 and 2017, focusing on households with children. Our findings reveal that while overall wealth inequality remained stable, this masks diverging trends across household types and conceals how significant demographic shifts within the overall population, and particularly among households with children, contributed to contrasting inequality trends. Increased immigration and changes in partnership status were associated with rising inequality; however, these effects were offset entirely by the inequality-reducing impact of population aging, educational expansion and rising female labor force participation. The study highlights the importance of these demographic changes for understanding trends in wealth inequality and shows that aggregated measures of inequality may mask countervailing effects of demographic shifts among population subgroups. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper) |
| Date: | 2025–06–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:jh5xp_v1 |
| By: | Federico Barbiellini Amidei (Bank of Italy); Matteo Gomellini (Bank of Italy); Lorenzo Incoronato (CSEF, University of Naples Federico II, CESifo, CReAM and Rockwool Foundation Berlin); Paolo Piselli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between demographic change and entrepreneurship and highlights its spatial dimension. We digitize historical censuses to reconstruct entrepreneurship rates and the age structure of Italian provinces since1960. We develop an estimation framework that relates entrepreneurship to granular age cohorts of the local population, leveraging instrumental variables to address endogeneity issues. Our results uncover stark regional heterogeneity. In Northern Italy, we find a hump-shaped age-entrepreneurship profile peaking at cohorts aged 30-40. In the South, entrepreneurship increases with age. Regional differences in the local business environment partly account for different estimated profiles. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, demographic change, regional differences, long run |
| JEL: | J11 L26 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–06–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:752 |