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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Daniela Del Boca; Silvia Pasqua; Simona Suardi |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse the impact of mothers' employment status and formal child care attendance during early childhood on children’s school grades later in life, controlling for socio-demographic factors. We use the year 2008 of the Italian ISFOL-PLUS dataset. The dataset provides information on each respondent’s demographic characteristics, as well as a set of retrospective information on the individual’s school grades at the end of junior high school, high school, and university; along with (in the 2008 wave only) information about the respondent’s formal child care attendance and mother’s employment status when he or she was under age of three. We estimate the effects of maternal employment and child care attendance on the probability that the respondent would have high grades at the end of high school. Since maternal employment and child care attendance are likely to be endogenously determined, we use an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach. Our empirical results show that while having a mother who was working (during early childhood) had no significant effect on an individual’s high school grades, child care attendance had a positive and significant effect. These results have potential policy implications. As maternal employment does not seem to negatively affect the development process of children, while child care attendance appears to have a positive impact on academic achievement, policy makers should consider expanding the availability of child care, and promoting women's participation in the labour market. |
| Keywords: | mothers' employment, child care, child cognitive outcomes |
| JEL: | J13 D1 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:441&r=dem |
| By: | Teresa Ghilarducci; Joelle Saad-Lessler; Kate Bahn (Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA)) |
| Abstract: | Employer-sponsored retirement plans provide the best vehicle for retirement savings because they provide a practical and efficient way for workers to save consistently. However, this report finds that almost half of Americans who were working in 2011 were not offered a retirement account at work. In addition, 68% of the U.S. working age population (25-64) did not participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan because their employer did not offer one, they elected not to participate or were not working. This report also finds the amounts saved through employer-sponsored defined contribution (DC) retirement plans are only slightly better off than those without a retirement plan. Except for those workers with defined benefit (DB) plans, most middle class U.S. workers will not have adequate retirement income. The poverty projections highlighted in this report reveal that 33% of future retirees will be either poor or near-poor when they retire. Additionally, 55% of retirees will be forced to rely solely on their Social Security income. A previous version of this report was published in the Journal of Pension Benefits. |
| Keywords: | Retirement, 401(k), Pensions |
| JEL: | H55 J26 J32 D63 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epa:cepapb:2015-01&r=dem |
| By: | David de la Croix (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) and Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE)); Paula E. Gobbi (National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) and UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | Whether the population tends towards a long-run stationary value depends on forces of demographic convergence. One such force is the result of fertility rates being negatively affected by population density. We test the existence of such an effect in 44 developing countries, matching georeferenced data from the Demographic and Health Surveys for half a million women with population density grids. When we correct for selection and endogeneity bias and control for the usual determinants of fertility such as education and income, a rise in density from 10 to 1000 inhabitants per square kilometer corresponds with a decrease in fertility of about 0.6 of a child. Duration analysis reveals that both age at marriage and age at first birth increase with density. |
| Keywords: | Demographic and Health Survey, Preventive check, Agglomeration externalities, Population Dynamics, Marriage |
| JEL: | J13 D19 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2016–01–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2016003&r=dem |
| By: | Kan, Â Man Yee; Laurie, Heather |
| Abstract: | There is an extensive literature on the domestic division of labour within married and cohabiting couples and its relationship to gender equality within and outside the household. UK quantitative research on the domestic division of labour across ethnic groups has been limited by a lack of data that enables disaggregation by ethnic group. This paper uses data from Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study containing sufficient sample sizes of ethnic minority groups for meaningful comparisons. We find significant variations in patterns of domestic labour by ethnic group, gender, education and employment status after accounting for individual and household characteristics. |
| Date: | 2016–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2016-01&r=dem |
| By: | Teresa Ghilarducci; Joelle Saad-Lessler; Kate Bahn (Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA)) |
| Abstract: | This report, conducted at the request of New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, reveals a 17% drop (from 49% to 41%) between 2001 and 2011 in the percentage of New York City workers participating in a retirement plan at work. Only 12% of New Yorkers had a defined benefit (DB) plan. The DB plan guarantees a pension, whereas defined contribution (DC) plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs do not. As a result, those with DB plans maintained an average income replacement rate of 90% versus those with DC plans who had an average replacement rate of 48%. The consequences of declining employer-sponsored plans and low replacement rates threaten workers' standard of living in retirement and could increase poverty levels among the city's older residents. |
| Keywords: | Retirement, Social Security, New York City |
| JEL: | J26 H55 E21 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:epa:cepapb:2014-03&r=dem |