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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Zafer Büyükkeçeci (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Mine Kühn (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Siri E. Håberg; Cecilia Høst Ramlau-Hansen; Mikko Myrskylä (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Objective: This study investigates how perceived own fecundity and that of the partner are related to life satisfaction, relationship satisfaction, and union dissolution. Background: Across many high-income countries, fertility has been gradually moving to ages at which fecundity starts to decline. This delay in reproductive timing can have profound implications for individuals' fertility outcomes, increasing the risk of either voluntary or involuntary childlessness. In a context that is characterized by late childbearing, perceived fecundity, both one’s own and that of the partner, may emerge as an important determinant of individuals' overall satisfaction and the dynamics of their romantic relationships. Method: Using 13 waves of longitudinal data from the German Family Panel (pairfam), we employ individual fixed-effects models to examine within-person changes in perceived fecundity, both one’s own and that of the partner, and their consequences for satisfaction and relationship outcomes. Results: Declines in perceived fecundity, for both oneself and one's partner, were associated with reductions in life and relationship satisfaction. A key finding is that the partner's perceived fecundity, as rated by the anchor, had a stronger impact on relationship outcomes than the anchor’s own perceived fecundity. Additionally, an increase in the risk of union dissolution was observed with a decline in the partner's perceived fecundity, while such an association was not found with one's own perceived fecundity. Our analysis revealed no significant gender differences in these associations. Additional analyses, in which we interacted perceived fecundity with parental status and age, showed that the relationship between perceived fecundity and outcomes was weaker among parents than among childless individuals, and decreased with age. Conclusion: The study contributes to the literature on fertility dynamics and their social implications by highlighting the role of subjective perceptions of one’s own fecundity and that of the partner in shaping life satisfaction and relationship resilience. |
| Keywords: | fecundity, fertility, interspouse relationships, satisfaction, separation |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2024-012&r= |
| By: | Marina Krauß; Niklas Rott |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal effect of increased availability of early childcare on maternal health. We focus on a substantial expansion of childcare for children under three years in West Germany from 2006 to 2019. By matching county-level childcare attendance rates with individual data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), we are able to quantify the effects of this expansion on maternal self-assessed health. Using a county-level fixed-effects model, we find that a 10 percentage point increase in the availability of childcare decreases mothers’ self-assessed health by 0.173 points on a one to five scale (19% of a standard deviation). A detailed analysis of various health domains reveals negative effects on both physical and mental health as well as on satisfaction with overall health. One plausible mechanism for these negative effects is the transmission of infections from children to mothers. Consistent with this hypothesis, we observe that increased childcare availability leads to mothers worrying more about their children’s health. While early childcare expansions offer well-known benefits in many dimensions like maternal employment and child development, our results suggest that there are unintended negative effects in the health domain of mothers. |
| Keywords: | Early childcare, maternal health, gender equality |
| JEL: | I10 I14 J13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1208&r= |
| By: | Paule-Paludkiewicz, Hannah |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how the statutory right to work part-time affects mothers' post-birth labor market outcomes. I use a differences-in-differences design to investigate a reform in Germany that granted the right to work part-time to employees of firms with more than 15 employees. I find that the reform increased the probability of eligible mothers working part-time in the short run after childbirth, indicating that the law relaxed a binding constraint. In the longer run, the reform had a positive effect on maternal employment and labor income, but did not change part-time status significantly. |
| Keywords: | Female Employment, Part-Time Work, Fertility, Family and Work Obligations |
| JEL: | J13 J18 J22 J83 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdps:298853&r= |
| By: | Lin, Zhuoer (Yale University); Ye, Justin (Yale University); Allore, Heather (Yale University); Gill, Thomas M. (Yale University); Chen, Xi (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | Given the critical role of neurocognitive development in early life, this study assesses how racial differences in early-life circumstances are collectively and individually associated with racial disparities in late-life cognition. Leveraging uniquely rich information on life history from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study for non-Hispanic White (White) and non-Hispanic Black (Black) Americans 50 years or older, we employ the Blinder-Oaxaca method to decompose racial gaps in cognitive outcomes into early-life educational experiences, cohort, regional, financial, health, trauma, family relationship, demographic and genetic factors. Overall, differences in early-life circumstances are associated with 61.5% and 82.3% of the racial disparities in cognitive score and impairment, respectively. Early-life educational experience is associated with 35.2% of the disparities in cognitive score and 48.6% in cognitive impairment. Notably, school racial segregation (all segregated schooling before college) is associated with 28.8%-39.7% of the racial disparities in cognition. Policies that improve educational equity have the potential to reduce racial disparities in cognition into older ages. Clinicians may leverage early-life circumstances to promote the screening, prevention, and interventions of cognitive impairment more efficiently, thereby promoting health equity. |
| Keywords: | early life circumstances, life course, school segregation, quality of education, racial disparity, cognition |
| JEL: | J15 I14 J13 J14 I20 H75 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17040&r= |
| By: | Breyer, Friedrich; Breunig, Christian; Kapteina, Mark; Schwerdt, Guido; Sterba, Maj-Britt |
| Abstract: | Citizens and politicians rely on their knowledge of a pension system, particularly its redistributive features, when forming their preferences and evaluating its fairness. Taking advantage of the Bismarckian rule of proportionality in Germany, we provide experimental and survey-based evidence indicating that voters and politicians adjust their preferences and perceptions of fairness when new information becomes available. Information on the proportional character of the pension system increases perceived fairness and decreases redistributive demands, whereas information about inequalities in life expectancy between beneficiary groups lowers perceived fairness and increases the demand for redistribution. Both citizens and politicians reject the Bismarckian principle of strict proportionality between lifetime contributions and pension benefits in favor of more redistribution from high to low earners in the retirement phase. Our design utilizes a representative survey of citizens and state politicians in 2020-22. |
| Keywords: | public pensions, preferences, redistribution, Germany, elites |
| JEL: | H55 D72 D83 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cexwps:299999&r= |
| By: | Ronan C. Lyons; Allison Shertzer; Rowena Gray; David N. Agorastos |
| Abstract: | We construct the first consistent market rent and home sales price series for American cities across the 20th century using millions of newspaper real estate listings. Our findings revise several stylized facts about U.S. housing markets. Real market rents did not fall during the 20th century for most cities. Instead, real rental price levels increased by about 20% from 1890 to 2006. There was also greater growth in real housing sales prices from 1965 to 1995 than is commonly understood. Using these series we document several new facts about housing markets. The return to homeownership has varied considerably across cities and over time, but rental returns were historically much more important than capital gains in every city. We discuss the implications of our indices for the business cycle and the consumer price index. Finally, we provide evidence that housing prices increased unevenly across cities over time in response to natural building and regulatory constraints. |
| JEL: | G11 N22 R31 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32593&r= |