nep-dem New Economics Papers
on Demographic Economics
Issue of 2023‒02‒27
three papers chosen by
Héctor Pifarré i Arolas
University of Wisconsin

  1. The Multigenerational Impact of Children and Childcare Policies By Karademir, Sencer; Laliberté, Jean-William; Staubli, Stefan
  2. The Value of a Green Card in the U.S. Marriage Market: A Tale of Chain Migration? By Bansak, Cynthia; Dziadula, Eva; Zavodny, Madeline
  3. Home alone: Widows' Well-Being and Time By Maja Adena; Daniel Hamermesh; Michal Myck; Monika Oczkowska

  1. By: Karademir, Sencer (University of Calgary); Laliberté, Jean-William (University of Calgary); Staubli, Stefan (University of Calgary)
    Abstract: The disproportionate impact of children on women's earnings constitutes the primary factor contributing to persistent gender inequality in many countries. This paper examines the multigenerational impact of children and whether the public provision of formal childcare lessens the earnings and employment impacts of children. Our analyses notably incorporate the role of grandparents as informal providers of childcare. We find that the arrival of a firstborn reduces the employment and earnings of mothers and grandmothers, suggesting that the life-cycle impact of children on women is larger than previously thought. Studying the implementation of a universal childcare program in the province of Quebec, we find that formal childcare increases the employment rates of mothers, as well as that of grandmothers to a lesser extent. Examining heterogeneity of the program's impact across census divisions, we find a negative correlation between the magnitude of the positive effects on mothers' employment and the pre-policy supply of informal childcare by grandmothers. Our findings together indicate that (1) analyses of social policies should consider broader family units and (2) the impact of childcare policies on mothers depends on pre-existing care arrangements, particularly the amount of care provided by grandparents.
    Keywords: childcare policies, labour supply, grandparents, parents, event study, policy reform
    JEL: H31 H42 J08 J13 J16 J18 J22
    Date: 2023–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15894&r=dem
  2. By: Bansak, Cynthia; Dziadula, Eva; Zavodny, Madeline
    Abstract: This study examines the impact of having a clear path to lawful permanent resident status, or a "green card, " and naturalized citizenship on marital status and spousal characteristics among Chinese immigrants in the United States. A series of U.S. policy changes in the early 1990s made all mainland Chinese immigrants already present in the country eligible for a green card. We examine the effect of those policy changes on Chinese immigrants' marriage market outcomes relative to other East Asian immigrants. Using 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census data, we find that the share of Chinese immigrants who are married increased after they became automatically eligible for a green card. In particular, highly educated Chinese immigrants became relatively more likely to be married with a spouse living with them and relatively less likely to be married with a spouse living elsewhere. This pattern suggests that some Chinese spouses immigrated after their husband or wife received legal status, or spousal chain migration occurred. We also find that highly educated Chinese immigrants benefited in the marriage market in terms of spousal education and earnings, but less-educated Chinese immigrants did not. Meanwhile, less-educated Chinese-born women became relatively more likely to marry a U.S. native.
    Keywords: immigration, marriage markets, assortative matching, legal status, China
    JEL: J12 J15 K37
    Date: 2023
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1233&r=dem
  3. By: Maja Adena (WZB Berlin); Daniel Hamermesh (University of Texas at Austin); Michal Myck (Centre for Economic Analysis); Monika Oczkowska (Centre for Economic Analysis)
    Abstract: Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-17) and time diaries from Poland (2013), the U.S. (2006-16), the U.K. (2014-15) and France (2009-10), we examine differences between widowed and partnered older women in well-being and its development in widowhood. Most importantly, our analysis accounts for time use, an aspect which has not been studied previously. We trace the evolution of well-being of women who become widowed by comparing them with their matched non-widowed ‘statistical twins’ and examine the role of an exceptionally broad set of potential moderators of widowhood’s impact on well-being. We confirm a dramatic decrease in mental health and life satisfaction after the loss of partner, followed by a slow partial recovery over a five-year period. An extensive set of controls recorded prior to widowhood, including detailed family ties and social networks, provides little help in explaining the deterioration in well-being. Unique data from time-diaries kept by older women in several European countries and the U.S. tell us why: the key factor behind widows’ reduced well-being is increased time spent alone.
    Keywords: widowhood; well-being; social networks; time use;
    JEL: I31 I19 J14
    Date: 2023–01–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:371&r=dem

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