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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
| By: | Blanchflower, David (Dartmouth College); Bryson, Alex (University College London); Lepinteur, Anthony (University of Luxembourg); Piper, Alan (Leeds University Business School) |
| Abstract: | A substantial literature finds poor mental health is hump-shaped with respect to age, whilst subjective wellbeing is U-shaped. Recent cross-sectional studies indicate a change in this relationship driven by the declining mental health of the young. We contribute to this literature by re-examining the age patterns in subjective wellbeing and illbeing for individuals in five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden). We do so with fifteen waves of the COME-HERE (CH) panel survey for 2020-2025 plus data from the Global Minds (GM) surveys of 2020-2026 for the same countries. We show that wellbeing rises and illbeing declines in a roughly monotonic fashion with age. This is found both with cross-section data from the CH and GM data, and from longitudinal plots of person fixed effects by age in the CH data. |
| Keywords: | subjective wellbeing, mental health, age, despair, panel data |
| JEL: | I31 I38 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18803 |
| By: | Attanasio, Orazio; Conti, Gabriella; Jervis, Pamela; Meghir, Costas; Okbay, Aysu |
| Abstract: | We evaluate impacts heterogeneity of an Early Childhood Intervention in Colombia, with respect to the Educational Attainment Polygenic Score (EA4 PGS) constructed from DNA data based on GWAS weights from a European population. We find that the EA4 PGS is predictive of several measures of child development, mother’s IQ and, to some extent, educational attainment. We also show that the impacts of the intervention are significantly greater in children with low PGS, to the point that the intervention eliminates the initial genetic disadvantage. Lastly, we find that children with high PGS attract more parental stimulation; however, the latter increases more strongly in children with low PGS. |
| JEL: | C21 J13 I24 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20221 |
| By: | Mogstad, Magne; Salvanes, Kjell G; Torsvik, Gaute |
| Abstract: | Policymakers, public commentators, and researchers often cite the Nordic countries as examples of a social and economic model that successfully combines low income inequality with prosperity and growth. This article aims to critically assess this claim by integrating theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence to illustrate how the Nordic model functions and why these countries experience low inequality. Our analysis suggests that income equality in the Nordics is primarily driven by a significant compression of hourly wages, reducing the returns to labor market skills and education. This appears to be achieved through a wage bargaining system characterized by strong coordination both within and across industries. This finding contrasts with other commonly cited explanations for Nordic income equality, such as redistribution through the tax transfer system, public spending on goods that complement employment, and public policies aimed at equalizing skills and human capital distribution. We consider the potential lessons for other economies that seek to reduce income equality. We conclude by discussing several underexplored or unresolved questions and issues. |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20002 |
| By: | Dalila de Rosa (Ministry of Economics and Finance, Rome, Italy); Pierluigi Murro (LUISS University, Rome, Italy); Matteo Rizzolli (LUMSA University, Rome, Italy); Matteo A. Ruberto (SUPSI University, Lugano, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | The relationship between family and happiness has long been studied, often relying on simple characterizations of family types on one side of the equation and using only one or two measures of wellbeing on the other side. In this paper we articulate both the complexity of family types and the different dimensions of subjective wellbeing. We test whether different family types — single, cohabiting, and married — and different dimensions of family commitment — the presence of children and religious observance — are associated with differences in multiple measures of subjective wellbeing relative to economic conditions, health, family relations, friendships, leisure time, and work, using Italian data from 1993 to 2023. Our findings, complemented by an instrumental variable analysis that addresses selection into family types, show that family commitment — particularly marriage and religious observance — may reflect a causal association with higher satisfaction in health, work, and social connectedness, at the cost of reduced satisfaction with leisure. Parenthood further strengthens health and friendship satisfaction but introduces additional costs in economic and leisure satisfaction that vary across family types. |
| Keywords: | family; marriage; cohabitation; parenthood; religiosity; commitment; subjective wellbeing; multidimensional life satisfaction |
| JEL: | I31 J12 J13 Z12 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsa:wphurf:wphurf01 |
| By: | Canessa, Stella (LMU Munich); Dahl, Gordon (University of California, San Diego); Hasselqvist, Anna (DIW Berlin); Meghir, Costas (Yale University); Niknami, Susan (SOFI, Stockholm University); Palme, Mårten (Stockholm University); Rainer, Helmut (LMU Munich); Rosenqvist, Olof (IFAU, Uppsala University); Xiao, Pengpeng (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | Divorce reshapes family life, yet little is known about one of its most consequential features: the allocation of child custody. We study the impact of joint versus sole custody on both parents and children using rich administrative data from Sweden linked to over 25 years of newly-collected court custody rulings. To address selection concerns, we exploit random assignment of custody disputes to judges who differ sharply in their propensity to grant joint custody. For fathers, joint custody substantially raises earnings and improves mental health, consistent with sustained paternal involvement enhancing labor market attachment and psychological well-being. In contrast, there are no measurable labor market or mental health effects for mothers. Turning to children, joint custody increases standardized test scores and school quality without affecting mental health out comes. Joint custody increases fathers’ chances of remarriage, keeps separated parents in closer geographic proximity, and has no effect on intimate partner violence allegations against either partner. These findings inform longstanding debates over the role of child custody in shaping post-divorce family life. |
| Keywords: | child custody, divorce |
| JEL: | J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18802 |
| By: | Fouka, Vasiliki; Tabellini, Marco |
| Abstract: | This chapter reviews the literature on the relationship between culture and political preferences. We distinguish conceptually between the direct cultural transmission of political ideology and the transmission of more primitive preferences and beliefs that influence preferences over policies, parties, and forms of government. While there is substantial evidence that political preferences persist across generations and within communities, the literature often does not specify which primitive values and beliefs drive this persistence. A growing body of work points to a multifaceted mapping from underlying preferences and beliefs over the material world and social relations to political ideology. In this chapter, we summarize these studies, organize their findings in a coherent framework, and suggest possible directions for future research. |
| Keywords: | beliefs |
| JEL: | D72 P0 N3 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:20194 |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan; Salyga, Hana; Machado, Sara |
| Abstract: | We examine the existence of altruism budgets (AB), which imply fixed monetary allocations to prosocial behaviours (PSB), and benevolence constraints (BC), which capture wider limits to benevolent behaviour, giving rise to a substitution between monetary and non-monetary forms of PSB, such as volunteering and biological donations. Using longitudinal data from the Netherlands from 2003 to 2019, we exploit two exogenous shocks to charitable behaviour: the introduction of a tax incentive that increased donations to culture and the arts, and a large-scale emergency fundraising campaign targeting Syrian refugees and victims of Typhoon Haiyan. Our results provide no evidence of AB but robust evidence of BC. We find a robust and precisely estimated decline in volunteering of approximately 4.5 hours per month after the emergency aid campaign among donors. This pattern suggests that individuals substitute across different forms of prosocial behaviour, reallocating effort from non-monetary activities such as volunteering toward monetary contributions during periods of heightened charitable demand. |
| Keywords: | altruisim budgets;benevolence budgets;pro-social behaviours;tax incentives;binding altruism budget;volunteering;monetary donations;Netherlands |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2026–06–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:138750 |