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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Giammarco Alderotti (Sapienza, Università di Roma); Daniele Vignoli (Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti", Università di Firenze); Michela Baccini (Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti", Università di Firenze); Anna Matysiak (Vienna Institute of Demography) |
| Abstract: | The relationship between employment uncertainty and fertility is a major topic in demographic research. Since, particularly, the Great Recession , increasing numbers of papers on this matter have been published. Uncertainty is usually deemed to have a negative effect on fertility, but different fertility reactions are hypothesized by sociological theories, and micro-level evidence is fragmentary and contradictory. In this article, we use network meta-analysis to synthesize European research findings and to offer general conclusions about the effects of employment uncertainty on fertility (in terms of direction and size) and to rank different sources of uncertainty. Our results suggest that employment uncertainty is detrimental for fertility. For men, being unemployed is more detrimental for fertility than having time-limited employment; for women, time-limited employment is the worst condition for fertility, while unemployment is often used as an opportunity window for having children. Next, the negative effect of time-limited employment on fertility has become stronger over time, and is more severe in Southern European countries, where social protection for families and the unemployed is least generous. Finally, we demonstrate that failing to account for income and partner’s characteristics leads to an overestimation of the negative effect of employment uncertainty on fertility. We advance the role of these two factors as potential mechanisms by which employment uncertainty affects fertility. |
| Keywords: | employment uncertainty; fertility; meta-analysis; Europe |
| JEL: | J13 J21 J81 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fir:econom:wp2019_06&r=all |
| By: | Yu, Haiyue; Cao, Jin; Kang, Shulong |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the role of grandparental childcare in China’s extraordinarily high female la-bor-market participation rate. Indeed, the high female labor-market participation and low labor-income penalty for childbirth is all the more remarkable given the lack of public subsidies for child-care. Using a novel and high-quality dataset, we find that childcare provided by retired grandparents significantly reduces the duration of career breaks for young women and helps women remain in the labor force. We further show that well-educated urban women benefit most from grandparental childcare, especially in the first three years of the child’s life before there is a possibility to enter kindergarten. |
| JEL: | C24 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2019–07–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bof:bofitp:2019_014&r=all |
| By: | Robert Kaestner; Engy Ziedan |
| Abstract: | This article presents estimates of the effects of state prescription opioid policies on prescription opioid sales, mortality and socioeconomic outcomes of adults. Our analysis highlights that most prescription opioid use is medically prescribed and that curtailing such use may have adverse effects on wellbeing. We also emphasize that there are significant differences in prescription opioid use and mis-use across demographic groups that may cause state policies to have heterogeneous effects. Results indicate that state policies reduced prescription opioid sales by between 5% and 20% depending on the policy and type of prescription opioid. State “pill mill” laws have been particularly effective at reducing prescription opioid sales. The reductions in prescription opioid sales associated with state policies, however, were not associated with significant changes in mortality or socioeconomic outcomes. |
| JEL: | I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26135&r=all |