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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Francesca Carta (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Parental leave and child care policies are the two main family-friendly programs adopted in developed countries intended to provide parents with a satisfactory work-family balance. An important goal is to foster the labour supply of mothers, usually the primary caregivers in the family. In Italy female and maternal labour supply are historically low, and the inadequacy of the parental leave and child care systems is often called into question. Based on the features of existing public policies in this area and on the international empirical evidence, we conclude that there is scope to foster quality child care support to further improve female labour supply in Italy. Moreover, increasing the length of paternity leave may help to re-balance the domestic workload among genders and overcome stereotypes. |
| Keywords: | Family Law, Child care, Gender, Female Labour Supply |
| JEL: | H40 J13 J16 J22 K36 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_539_19&r=all |
| By: | Zhang, Hanzhe (Michigan State University, Department of Economics); Wu, Jiabin (Department of Economics, University of Oregon) |
| Abstract: | We examine the evolution of preferences under different arrangements of the marriage market, when preferences are influenced by own choices and parents’ preferences. Multiple stable equilibria arise under random matching, but a unique equilibrium exists under assortative matching. Differences in evolutionary trajectories after transitory and permanent shocks by marriage markets allow us to discuss in a unified way the evolution of (i) female labor force participation in developed countries, (ii) gender norms in developing countries, (iii) the capitalistic spirit in preindustrial England, and (iv) cultural norms in the long run. |
| Keywords: | preference evolution; marriage market; intergenerational transmission; evolutionary games |
| JEL: | C73 C78 Z13 |
| Date: | 2020–01–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:msuecw:2020_001&r=all |
| By: | Bencek, David; Schneiderheinze, Claas |
| Abstract: | Comparing the emigration rates of countries at different stages of economic development, an inverse u-shape emerges. Although merely based on cross-sectional evidence, the 'migration hump' is often treated as a causal relationship. Since the peak is located at rather high per capita incomes of 6000-10 000 USD policy makers in rich destination countries worry that supporting economic development in poor origin countries might increase migration. In this paper we systematically test whether the migration hump holds up to more scrutiny, finding that the crosssectional pattern is misleading. Using 35 years of migration flow data from 198 countries of origin to OECD destinations, we successfully reproduce the hump-shape in the cross-section. However, more rigorous fixed effects panel estimations that exploit the variation over time consistently show a negative association between income and emigration. This result is independent of the level of income a country starts out at and thus casts doubt on any causal interpretation of the migration hump. |
| Keywords: | international migration,economic development,development assistance |
| JEL: | F22 F63 O15 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2145&r=all |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | About 47 million people living in the United States in 2018 were born in other countries; roughly three-quarters of them were here legally. Immigration, whether legal or illegal, expands the labor force and changes its composition, leading to increases in total economic output—though not necessarily to increases in output per capita. Over the past two decades, foreign-born people accounted for about half of the growth of the U.S. labor force. |
| JEL: | F22 F66 J11 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2020–01–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:55967&r=all |
| By: | German Cubas; Chinhui Juhn; Pedro Silos |
| Abstract: | Using U.S. time diary data we construct occupation-level measures of coordinated work schedules based on the concentration of hours worked during peak hours of the day. A higher degree of coordination is associated with higher wages but also a larger gender wage gap. In the data women with children allocate more time to household care and are penalized by missing work during peak hours. An equilibrium model with these key elements generates a gender wage gap of 6.6 percent or approximately 30 percent of the wage gap observed among married men and women with children. If the need for coordination is equalized across occupations and set to a relatively low value (i.e. Health care support), the gender gap would fall by more than half to 2.7 percent. |
| JEL: | E24 J2 J3 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26548&r=all |
| By: | Péter Hudomiet (RAND); Michael D. Hurd (RAND); Susann Rohwedder (RAND) |
| Abstract: | Recent literature has documented a widening gap in mortality in the United States between individuals with high socioeconomic status (SES) and low SES. An important question is whether this trend will continue. In this paper we document trends and inequalities in the health status at ages 54 to 60 of individuals born between 1934 and 1959. We do so by using detailed subjective and objective measures of health in the Health and Retirement Study to examine contributors to mortality inequality and to forecast life expectancy. We found that the health of individuals 54 to 60 years old has generally declined in recent years. In particular, we found large increases in obesity rates, notable increases in diabetes and reported levels of pain, and lower self-reported health and subjective survival probabilities. We also found strong evidence for increasing health inequalities, as the health of individuals in these cohorts with high SES remained largely stable while that for individuals with low SES declined. When we forecast life expectancies using these predictor variables, as well as gender- and SES-specific time trends, we predict overall life expectancy to increase further. However, the increase is concentrated among high SES individuals, suggesting growing mortality inequality. Results are similar among men and women. |
| Date: | 2019–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrr:papers:wp401&r=all |