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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2021‒11‒22
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Berniell, Maria Ines (University of La Plata); Berniell, Lucila (Development Bank of Latin America); De la Mata, Dolores (Development Bank of Latin America); Edo, María (Universidad de San Andrés); Fawaz, Yarine (CEMFI, Madrid); Machado, Matilde P. (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Marchionni, Mariana (Universidad Nacional de la Plata) |
| Abstract: | The existence of large child penalties has been documented for multiple countries and time periods. In this paper, we assess to what extent marriage decisions and pregnancies (rather than live births), which tend to occur around the birth of the first child, explain part of the so-called motherhood effect in labor market outcomes. Using data for 29 countries drawn from SHARE, we show that although marriage has a negative effect on women's employment (3.3%), its magnitude is much smaller compared with the negative effect of a first child (23%). Moreover, we find that pregnancies that end in non-live births have non-statistically significant effects in employment in the following years, supporting the exogeneity assumption underlying identification in child penalty studies. These new results lend support to the hypothesis that childcare, rather than marriage or pregnancy, is responsible for women exiting the labor force upon motherhood. |
| Keywords: | pregnancy, non-live births, marriage, child penalty, motherhood, SHARE data |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14841&r= |
| By: | John Micklewright (University College London); Andrea Brandolini (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | We discuss the instrumental and intrinsic reasons for concern about poverty, its definition – absolute/relative, unidimensional/multidimensional – and the visual communication of what poverty really means. |
| Keywords: | Great poverty, income, consumption, multidimensional poverty, communication. |
| JEL: | C80 I32 |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:2132&r= |
| By: | Stefania Basiglio; Daniela Del Boca; Chiara Pronzato |
| Abstract: | The growth of poverty rates among families and individuals during the last two decades (especially as a consequence of the economic crisis between 2008 and 2015) has stimulated a growing attention for policies aimed to support households' welfare. In a situation of scarcity and/or limitations of public interventions, new programs have been designed by private institutions and philanthropic foundations. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a program aimed to support two important dimensions of poverty strongly connected: housing conditions and employment. The program named Integro has been established in 2018 by Compagnia di San Paolo, one of the most important philanthropic institution in Italy. Using a randomized control trial, we estimate the impact of the program on three important outcomes: work, financial well-being, and personal well-being. We find interesting and significant effects of the program which appear to be driven by individuals less at risk who, prior to participation in the program, could already afford a minimum standard of living. |
| Keywords: | Housing, Employment, Randomized controlled trial |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wchild:94&r= |
| By: | Agostina Brinatti; Alberto Cavallo; Javier Cravino; Andres Drenik |
| Abstract: | We use data from a large web-based job platform to study how the price of remote work is determined in a globalized labor market. In the platform, workers from around the world compete for jobs that can be done remotely. We document that, despite the global nature of the marketplace, the location of the worker accounts for over a third of the variance in wages. The observed wage differences are strongly correlated to the GDP per-capita of the worker’s country. This correlation is not accounted for by differences in workers’ characteristics, occupations, nor for differences in the employers’ locations. We also document that remote wages in local currency move almost one-for-one with the dollar exchange rate of the worker’s country, and are highly sensitive to changes in the wages of foreign competitors. Finally, we provide a new measure on which jobs are easier to offshore that is based on the prevalence of cross-border contracts rather than on subjective job characteristics, and show that there is substantial heterogeneity in the offshorability of remote occupations. |
| JEL: | F1 F2 F4 F6 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29437&r= |
| By: | Eric A. Hanushek; Babs Jacobs; Guido Schwerdt; Rolf van der Velden; Stan Vermeulen; Simon Wiederhold |
| Abstract: | The extensive literature on intergenerational mobility highlights the importance of family linkages but fails to provide credible evidence about the underlying family factors that drive the pervasive correlations. We employ a unique combination of Dutch survey and registry data that links math and language skills across generations. We identify a causal connection between cognitive skills of parents and their children by exploiting within-family between-subject variation in these skills. The data also permit novel IV estimation that isolates variation in parental cognitive skills due to school and peer quality. The between-subject and IV estimates of the key intergenerational persistence parameter are strikingly similar and close at about 0.1. Finally, we show the strong influence of family skill transmission on children’s choices of STEM fields. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, parent-child skill transmission, causality, STEM |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J12 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9388&r= |
| By: | Daniela Del Boca; Chiara Daniela Pronzato; Lucia Schiavon |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of parenting courses on fragile families' time use with their children. Courses aimed at raising parental awareness of the importance of educational activities are offered in four Italian cities (Naples, Reggio Emilia, Teramo and Palermo) within the framework of the social program "FA.C.E. Farsi Comunità Educanti" and with the cooperation of the institution "Con i Bambini". To conduct the impact evaluation, we designed a randomized controlled trial involving random assignment of the families (mostly mothers). At the end of the intervention, we administered an assessment questionnaire both to the treatment group, which took the course, and to the control group, which did not. Comparing the outcomes, we find attending the course increased families' awareness of the importance of educational activities for children, the frequency with which they read to the child, and their desire to spend more time with the child. |
| Keywords: | parenting, use of time, randomized controlled trial |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wchild:93&r= |