|
on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
| By: | Clark, Andrew (Paris School of Economics); Lepinteur, Anthony (University of Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | There are many estimates of the intergenerational transmission of income and education, even though these may be considered as only partial measures of individual welfare. We here analyse long-running UK panel data and directly consider the intergenerational transmission of two widely-used indicators of well-being, life satisfaction and psychological distress. We use the long-run nature of this panel data to construct parent–child dyads who are observed at the same age, and so avoid the life-cycle bias that appears in much existing work on intergenerational correlation. We find that well-being is transmitted across generations, but to a lesser extent than are income and education. Observed economic outcomes only slightly mediate this relationship, and the estimated transmission is similar across different types of parents and children. Exploiting the panel structure of the data, where both parents and their children are observed repeatedly over time, we show that well-being is transmitted across generations not only in levels, but also in terms of the way in which it changes over the life cycle. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction, GHQ, intergenerational transmission, UK |
| JEL: | I31 I10 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18760 |
| By: | Blanchflower, David (Dartmouth College) |
| Abstract: | I examine wellbeing and age in twenty advanced countries. Thirteen are from Northern Europe – Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, plus the five other major English-speaking countries Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA and one from Latin America and one from Asia – Argentina and Indonesia. Two datasets are examined for the US, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and Household Pulse Surveys along with ten international datasets - the Eurobarometers, Gallup World Poll, Come Here, the World Values Survey, International Social Survey Programme, the European Social Survey, the EU-SILC survey, the Global Flourishing Study and Global Minds surveys. There is very strong evidence since 2020 that youth wellbeing is low in all of these countries and for each of them is found no matter how the data was collected, whether by interviewer or online. The evidence is similar whether happiness or unhappiness measures are used. |
| Keywords: | youth, CATI, CAWI |
| JEL: | I31 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18757 |
| By: | Bingley, Paul (VIVE Copenhagen); Cappellari, Lorenzo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Ovidi, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Sandi, Matteo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | We provide the first causal evidence on the intergenerational effects of parental criminal victimization originating outside the family. Using population-wide Danish administrative data, we compare end-of-compulsory-school examination scores of children exposed to parental victimization with those of matched controls, and exploit victimizations occurring after compulsory schooling to account for residual selection. Violent, but not property, victimization lowers children’s mathematics scores by 0.03 standard deviations, rising to 0.05 standard deviations for exposure in early childhood, a period when parental inputs are especially consequential for skill formation. Deterioration in family stability, paternal behavior, and labor market attachment following victimization emerge as the primary mechanisms, pointing to an underappreciated channel of intergenerational inequality. |
| Keywords: | parental criminal victimization, intergenerational spillovers, children’s human capital, early childhood |
| JEL: | K42 I24 J13 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18855 |
| By: | Cahuc, Pierre |
| Abstract: | This article provides an overview of the economic literature on short-time work. It presents the main characteristics of short-time work since its emergence in Germany in the 1930s. It analyzes its effectiveness as a job preservation mechanism, drawing on theoretical models and empirical studies. It concludes by highlighting the areas that future research could explore to address the most significant gaps in our understanding of short-time work. |
| Keywords: | Short-time work |
| JEL: | J23 J41 J63 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19429 |
| By: | Adsera, Alicia (Princeton University); Arenas, Andreu (University of Barcelona); Boix, Carles (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | We examine how individuals value political and economic goods and institutions through a conjoint experiment in eight countries: Argentina, urban China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, and the United States. Respondents choose between societies that randomly vary in personal and country income, inequality, social mobility, safety, public healthcare, and free elections. We estimate marginal effects and willingness to pay for outcomes at the country and respondent levels. Valuations of personal and country incomes and safety are similar across countries. By contrast, the value of democracy, defined as free elections, varies substantially. The average Chinese respondent is willing to give up democracy for an increase in individual income equal to one quarter of average country income, whereas the average American would do so only for twice the U.S. average country income. Unlike income and safety, for which most individual-level variation is explained by personal characteristics, variation in preferences for free elections is substantially explained by respondents’ country. Our findings contribute to research on human preferences, demand for democratic institutions, and policy and redistributive preferences. |
| Keywords: | democracy, safety, willingness to pay, conjoint experiment, income |
| JEL: | H11 H51 I13 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18844 |
| By: | Del Boca, Daniela; Pronzato, Chiara |
| Abstract: | The increase in poverty rates among families and individuals in Italy over the past two decades can be attributed largely to repeated periods of economic crisis. Growing concern over the problem has driven interest in the role of policy in supporting household welfare. Responding to the currently limited access to (or provision of) public aid and assistance, private institutions and philanthropic foundations have stepped up their efforts to create new initiatives for alleviating poverty. In this paper, we use a randomized control trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of a new Italian program aimed at supporting vulnerable individuals in four separate but related areas of household welfare: employment, financial circumstances, family responsibilities, and housing conditions. The program, known as Integro, was introduced by the Compagnia di San Paolo, one of Italy’s largest philanthropic institutions. Our findings indicate a positive and statistically significant impact of Integro on three of the four target outcomes considered, with only the fourth (housing conditions) not being affected. We also sought to identify any initial conditions potentially influencing the extent to which participants benefit from the program. Is Integro equally effective for everyone? According to our data, the program provides the best outcomes for males reporting lower human capital and greater socio-emotional stability. |
| Keywords: | Housing; Employment; Randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | J68 J24 I31 C93 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19476 |