|
on Minorities Research (Ethnic, LGBTQ+, Disabilities) |
| By: | Haller, Andreas (Norwegian School of Economics); Staubli, Stefan (University of Calgary) |
| Abstract: | The central trade-off for designing Disability Insurance (DI) is between providing insurance to those in need while maintaining incentives to work. This paper develops a novel revealed-preference approach to identify the insurance value of DI benefits. We show that comparing the DI take-up response to a change in benefits versus a change in wages identifies the insurance value. Implementing our framework in Canada, we estimate that increasing DI benefits by $1 creates an additional disincentive cost of $0.60 but creates an insurance value of $2.20. Thus, our approach suggests that DI benefits are not overly generous in the Canadian context. |
| Keywords: | disability insurance, take-up, benefits, policy reform |
| JEL: | H53 H55 J14 J21 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18769 |
| By: | Verhaeghe, Pieter-Paul (Vrije Universiteit Brussel); Devos, Louise Devos (Ghent University); Ghekiere, Abel (Vrije Universiteit Brussel); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Lippens, Louis (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | This meta-analysis compares patterns of rental discrimination across five grounds: ethno-racial origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and social origin. We analyze 475 field experimental estimates from 31 countries, published between 2002 and 2024. In the random-effects pooled estimates, discrimination is substantial across all grounds, with the highest levels for ethno-racial origin, social origin, and disability, and smaller penalties for men and same-sex couples. For several grounds, the pooled effect attenuates toward no discrimination after correction for small-study publication bias. Marked heterogeneity exists, including a clear ethno-racial hierarchy with the strongest penalties for Arab, North African or Turkish applicants. Contrary to prior work, discrimination is higher in Europe than in North America for ethno-racial origin and sexual orientation. There is no consistent decline over time, except for social origin. Real estate agents discriminate less than private landlords, but only for ethno-racial origin. Mode-of-contact effects are mixed. Overall, discrimination appears persistent and context-dependent, calling for more targeted and effectively enforced policy interventions. |
| Keywords: | meta-analysis, discrimination, housing, ethnic origin, gender, disability, social origin, sexual orientation |
| JEL: | C93 J14 J15 J16 J71 R21 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18788 |
| By: | Currie, Janet (Yale University); Daysal, N. Meltem (University of Copenhagen); Gørtz, Mette (University of Copenhagen); Hirani, Jonas (VIVE) |
| Abstract: | We ask how a younger sibling’s physical disability affects sibling mental health using Danish register data on families with three or more children. Difference-in-difference models compare first- and second-born children when the third-born does or does not have a disability. Use of mental health services increases 13% among second-born children, with a 23% increase in psychiatric visits and an 18% increase in use of psychiatric medications. Effects are concentrated in households where the mother has less than high school and persist after conditioning on child test scores. Parental responses suggest that caregiving demands, stress, and strained resources are potential mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | disability, mental health, siblings, children |
| JEL: | I14 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18783 |
| By: | Moretti, Margherita (Bocconi University); Balbo, Nicoletta; Tosi, Marco; Alburez-Gutierrez, Diego |
| Abstract: | Disability is usually framed as an individual condition, yet its associated consequences may extend through kinship networks. Despite this, the population reach of disability through kin remains unknown. We use demographic kinship matrix models combining fertility and mortality schedules with disability prevalence, to estimate population exposure to disability through grandparents, parents, siblings, children, and grandchildren across ages in Europe in 2021. We quantify exposure using three complementary measures: the probability of having at least one kin with disability, the population-level number of individuals exposed, and the proportion of kin with disability. Our results show that exposure is both widespread and substantial: across all ages and kin types, 70% of women in Europe, corresponding to about 160 million women, have at least one close kin with disability. In childhood and early adulthood, more than half to three-quarters of European women have at least one grandparent with disability, with the age-specific number of exposed women peaking at about 1.5 million; in midlife, about one-third to nearly one-half have at least one parent with disability, with the population-level exposure peaking at about 1.4 million women. Throughout much of women’s lives, between 20% and 40% of their close kin have disability. These findings show that disability is not only an individual experience but also a relational exposure amplified by kinship structures. Exposure to kin disability constitutes a hidden source of inequality that accumulates over the life course and intersects with gender and socioeconomic inequalities. |
| Date: | 2026–07–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:udmkh_v1 |
| By: | Hull, Marie (University of North Carolina, Greensboro); Shah, Hema (Federal Trade Commission); Zhu, Maria (Syracuse University) |
| Abstract: | U.S. public schools play a central role in identifying student disabilities. Using administrative data, we examine how third-grade class rank affects subsequent disability classification, leveraging variation in school-cohort achievement distributions to isolate rank from students' own achievement. Students in the lowest ventile are 3.8 percentage points more likely to be classified as having a disability than students at the median (10\textsuperscript{th} ventile). Students at ventiles above the median exhibit smaller but statistically significant estimated increases relative to the median as well. These patterns are driven primarily by classifications of learning disabilities and health conditions such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We further document that low-ranked students are more likely to receive a testing accommodation in fourth grade. Together, these findings highlight the role of subjective factors in shaping disability diagnoses and the allocation of testing accommodations. |
| Keywords: | disability, special education, rank effects, testing accommodations |
| JEL: | I21 J14 I10 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18836 |
| By: | Cuskelly, Monica; Owen, Ceridwen; McCann, Damhnat; Faulkner, Debbie; Gusheh, Maryam; Hobbs, Maria L; Callaway, Libby |
| Abstract: | This project sought to establish what constitutes ‘good’ housing outcomes for people with disability, the barriers and facilitators for achieving them, and policy and practice changes that could improve them. It also aimed to understand the diverse circumstances of people with disability, including populations at greatest risk of poor housing outcomes. Australians with disability remain disadvantaged in housing across several indicators, including availability of appropriate accommodation, affordability, and connection to community. The policy context is complex and people with disability must navigate multiple systems to try to get their housing and support needs met. To achieve Australia’s Disability Strategy ambition for a more inclusive nation, there is a need to focus on housing provision for people with disability and how to develop a housing system that meets their needs. |
| Date: | 2026–07–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:mhxzw_v1 |
| By: | Advani, Arun; Ash, Elliott; Boltachka, Anton; Cai, David; Rasul, Imran |
| Abstract: | Issues of racial justice and economic inequalities between racial and ethnic groups have risen to the top of public debate. Economists' ability to contribute to these debates is based on the body of race-related research. We study the volume and content of race-related research in economics. We base our analysis on a corpus of 225, 000 economics publications from 1960 to 2020 to which we apply an algorithmic approach to classify race-related work. We present three new facts. First, since 1960 less than 2% of economics publications have been race-related. There is an uptick in such work in the mid 1990s. Among the top-5 journals this is driven by the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Journal of Political Economy. Econometrica and the Review of Economic Studies have each cumulatively published fewer than 15 race-related articles since 1960. Second, on content, while over 50% of race-related publications in the 1970s focused on Black individuals, by the 2010s this had fallen to 20%. There has been a steady decline in the share of race-related research on discrimination since the 1980s, with a rise in the share of studies on identity. Finally, we apply our algorithm to NBER and CEPR working papers posted over the last four decades, to study an earlier stage of the research process. We document a balkanization of race-related research into a few fields, and its continued absence from many others -- a result that holds even within the subset of research examining issues of inequality or diversity. We discuss implications of our findings for economists' ability to contribute to debates on race and ethnicity in the economy. |
| JEL: | A11 B41 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19898 |
| By: | van Asselt, Joanna; Linn, Khin Mar; Oo, Theingi |
| Abstract: | This working paper examines household welfare among women-adult-only households and households with a disabled/chronically ill member using Myanmar Household Welfare Surveys from April 2022 to July 2025. It analyzes their demographic characteristics, income composition, and levels of asset and income poverty. The paper’s main contribution is assessing key food security indicators for these vulnerable households, including Minimum Dietary Diversity, the Food Consumption Score, and the Household Hunger Score. Women-adult-only households, defined as households without any male members aged 15 or older, account for 9 percent of households nationally, or 13 percent when including households with elderly male dependents. Fourteen percent of households have a disabled or chronically ill member, and 10 percent have a disabled or chronically ill adult. Women-adult-only and disability-affected households have higher asset poverty rates than the national average. Women-adult-only households have similar income poverty levels compared with the national average, while 71 percent of households with a disabled/chronically ill member are income poor, compared to 63 percent nationally. Remittance receipt among women-adult-only households decreases income poverty for the group; more women-adult-only households receive remittances (33 percent) and rely on remittances (24 percent) as their main income source. Women-adult-only and disability-affected households perform worse across all dietary indicators. Women-adult-only households show, on average, 4 percentage points higher prevalence of low food consumption across survey rounds, while households with a disabled/chronically ill adult have a 3percentage-point higher prevalence. Moderate or severe hunger is also higher among women-adultonly households (6 percent) and households with a disabled/chronically ill adult (7 percent), compared with the national average of 4 percent. Households with a disabled/chronically ill adult are significantly more likely to rely on negative food-related coping strategies—including borrowing food, reducing meals, and skipping meals— highlighting their heightened vulnerability relative to other households. Regression results highlight that women-adult-only households face elevated hunger because of their structural economic disadvantages —fewer different income sources, weaker land ownership, and lower asset holdings — rather than the absence of adult men per se. Low food consumption, however, remains significantly lower for women-adult-only households even after fully controlling for these structural factors. This likely reflects the severe time constraints of households where all productive, care, and domestic tasks fall on adult women alone. For households with a disabled or chronically ill adult hunger persists across all specifications regardless of income, land, or asset controls — pointing to a direct burden that structural economic characteristics cannot explain. These contrasting findings suggest different interventions: structural economic interventions around land and livelihoods for women-adult-only households, and direct consumption support and social protection transfers for households affected by disability. |
| Keywords: | gender; disabilities; welfare; disability inclusion; social inclusion; financial inclusion; food security; family structure; persons with disabilities; women; Myanmar; Asia; South-eastern Asia |
| Date: | 2026–06–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprwp:183378 |
| By: | Galor, Oded; Klemp, Marc; Wainstock, Daniel C. |
| Abstract: | This study reveals the pivotal impact of the prehistoric out-of-Africa migration on global variation in the degree of cultural diversity within ethnic and national populations. Drawing on novel diversity measures—encompassing folkloric and musical traditions among indigenous ethnic groups, as well as norms, values, and attitudes in modern societies—an intriguing pattern emerges: societies whose ancestors migrated farther from humanity’s cradle in Africa exhibit lower cultural diversity. These striking findings underscore: (i) the profound role of cultural dynamics in shaping the enduring effects of the out-of-Africa migration on social cohesion, innovativeness, and living standards; (ii) the origins of persistent global variations in cultural expressions within an increasingly interconnected world; and (iii) the roots of variations in societal adaptability to evolving economic and technological landscapes. |
| Keywords: | Diversity; Culture |
| JEL: | O10 Z10 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19718 |
| By: | Whittard, Damian; Bradley, Peter; Phan, Van; Ritchie, Felix |
| Abstract: | Given the urgency to transition to net-zero, there is a need for a robust evidence-base to support an environmentally sustainable and equitable changeover. However, intelligence on green jobs and their impact on different groups is lacking. This study examines the dynamics of green jobs, leveraging a novel linked dataset that combines detailed occupational, industry, demographic and pay information from 2011 to 2018. By employing both cross-sectional and panel estimation techniques, we provide a wide-ranging analysis of employment in green occupations. The results indicate that individuals are more likely to work in green occupations if they are white, male, fulltime, not in a trade union and work for a small or foreign owned business. There is a pay premium for working in green occupations, which reduces gender and ethnic pay gaps. However, conditional on working in a green occupation, gender and ethnic pay gaps persist. This implies that to have a fair and just transition to net-zero, policy interventions are required to address the dual inequality of opportunity and pay. |
| Keywords: | fair and just; green jobs; inequality; multivariate quantitative methods; net zero; pay gap |
| JEL: | C10 J15 J16 J49 O52 Q00 |
| Date: | 2024–10–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eoe:escoed:escoe-dp-2024-13 |
| By: | Bluhm, Richard; Hodler, Roland; Schaudt, Paul |
| Abstract: | We study how the design of subnational political borders shapes the salience of ethnicity in politics. We introduce a framework for measuring how political borders align with a country's ethnic geography at the micro level. We then leverage quasi-experimental variation in the alignment introduced by Kenya's 2010 constitutional reform, which divided the country's eight provinces into 47 counties. Our results suggest that ethnofederal reforms, i.e., reforms that increase the alignment between political borders and ethnic geography, would reduce ethnic voting in national elections. Finally, we evaluate alternative border designs and derive the design that would minimize ethnic voting. |
| Keywords: | Kenya |
| JEL: | D02 D72 H77 J15 O55 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19715 |
| By: | Annibali, Claudio; Bergemann, Annette; Alessie, Rob |
| Abstract: | Health screenings are potentially powerful tools to mitigate adverse health and labour outcomes. We conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the labour market and health effects of a diabetes warning in a country that has not introduced such a screening system. Using data from over 160, 000 participants in Lifelines, a Dutch cohort study, and a multidimensional regression discontinuity design, we estimate the short- and long-run impacts of a diabetes risk warning. Individuals under 40 increase their employment rate following a warning, with effects that are especially pronounced and persistent for women. These employment gains are accompanied by improvements in self-reported health among women and reduced smoking among men. Among older individuals, the responses are more heterogeneous: Women are more likely to retire and reduce alcohol consumption, while men are less likely to receive disability benefits and more likely to visit their general practitioner in the short term. Our findings provide novel evidence that health information can influence labour market outcomes through gender- and age-specific behavioural adjustments. |
| Keywords: | diabetes, diabetes screening, employment, health behaviour, undiagnosed diabetes, multi-dimensional regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | I12 J16 I10 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1799 |
| By: | Seoane Estruel, Luis; Andreyeva, Tatiana |
| Abstract: | Objectives. To assess whether increases in breastfeeding initiation during the 2022 infant formula shortage persisted after formula supply normalized and whether changes differed across groups in the United States. Methods. We analyzed 2016-2024 national birth certificate data from 47 states and the District of Columbia (n = 26, 789, 278). Bayesian structural time-series models estimated changes in breastfeeding initiation trends, and linear probability models tested for heterogeneous effects. Results. Breastfeeding initiation remained 1.25 percentage points above pre-shortage levels during 2023- 2024 (95% credible interval [CrI], 0.58–1.77). Gains were concentrated among disadvantaged mothers: those with lower educational attainment, Medicaid coverage, or WIC participation. Racial and ethnic differences observed during the 2022 shortage did not persist. State paid family leave policies were not primary drivers of these increases. Gains were most pronounced among first-time mothers, whereas multiparous mothers experienced smaller effects. Conclusions. Breastfeeding initiation remained above pre-shortage levels, especially among mothers with fewer resources, suggesting lasting behavioral change and potential social multiplier effects that warrant consideration in policy design. However, the decline from shortage-period peaks underscores persistent structural barriers to breastfeeding. |
| Keywords: | Health Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea26:404591 |
| By: | Zakharov, Alexei; Sonin, Konstantin |
| Abstract: | Elite purges are an instrument of power control in authoritarian regimes. The purges in the Soviet Red Army during the 1937-38 Great Terror were one of the most intensive on record. Within two years, almost two thirds of the 1, 863 officers holding general-grade military ranks in 1936 were arrested; almost a half were executed. To analyze the patterns of repression among the Soviet high command, we compile a biographical data set from a large number of open and archival sources. Some of our findings should be familiar to historians: probability of being repressed was higher for certain ethnic minorities, higher ranks, and those with prior foreign contacts. Overall, our findings confirm that Stalin was not reacting to any imminent conspiracy threat but rather sought to preemptively minimize the risk of a possible coup. We show that Stalin specifically targeted the most competent officers: controlling for other characteristics, including the military rank and party history, the probability of repression was much higher for younger cadres. Combined with the results that military promotions in 1941 were, other things equal, inversely related to age, this is the first systematic evidence that the Great Terror directly impacted the disastrous Red Army performance in the first years of the German invasion. |
| Keywords: | Stalin |
| JEL: | P00 D74 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19772 |
| By: | Cavapozzi, Danilo; Francesconi, Marco; Nicoletti, Cheti |
| Abstract: | Using UK longitudinal data on dual-earner couples, this paper estimates a model of intrahousehold housework decisions, which combines a randomized experimental framework eliciting counterfactual choices with gender norms differences across ethnicities and cohorts to identify the impacts of individual preferences and gender identity norms. Equal sharing of tasks yields greater utility for both men and women, with women disliking domestic chores as much as men. Although couples would want to use housework arrangements to compensate for differentials in labor market involvement, women end up performing a substantially larger share of housework. This is not due to specialization, rather social norms play a key role. Exposure to more egalitarian gender attitudes significantly increases the probability of choosing an equal share of housework. Were attitudes evened up to the most progressive levels observed in the sample, women doing more housework than their partners would stop to be the norm already among present-day households, except for households with children. |
| Keywords: | Labor supply; Gender gaps |
| JEL: | C25 C26 D13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19726 |
| By: | Schüler, Ruth M.; Seele, Stefanie |
| Abstract: | Die alternde Bevölkerung in Deutschland erhöht den Druck auf die sozialen Sicherungssysteme und verschärft (künftig) den Fachkräftemangel. Um die Lebensarbeitszeit zu verlängern, wurden in den letzten Jahren finanzielle Anreize geschaffen, insbesondere durch die Abschaffung der Hinzuverdienstgrenze für vorgezogene Renten und seit 2026 durch steuerliche Vorteile für Erwerbstätigkeit über die Regelaltersgrenze hinaus im Rahmen der "Aktivrente". Historisch war der Hinzuverdienst parallel zum vorzeitigen Rentenbezug stark begrenzt, und zwar auf 6.300 Euro jährlich bis zur Heraufsetzung der Hinzuverdienstgrenze im Jahr 2020. Dies führte dazu, dass viele Rentnerinnen und Rentner, die vorzeitig in Rente gegangen waren, bis zum Jahr 2020 eine geringfügige Beschäftigung wählten. Nach zweimaliger Heraufsetzung der Hinzuverdienstgrenze in den Jahren 2020 und 2021 wurde die Hinzuverdienstgrenze zum Jahresbeginn 2023 vollständig abgeschafft. Seitdem können vorzeitige Altersrentnerinnen und -rentner unbegrenzt hinzuverdienen, ohne dass der Hinzuverdienst mit der Rente verrechnet wird. Durch die Reformen der Hinzuverdienstgrenze ist das bisherige Prinzip, dass Rente Erwerbseinkommen ersetzt, aufgehoben, da nun ein paralleler Bezug von unbegrenztem Einkommen und voller Rente möglich ist. Seit dem vollständigen Wegfall der Hinzuverdienstgrenze 2023 nimmt die Zahl der vorzeitig Verrenteten mit einem sogenannten "großen Hinzuverdienst", der über die ehemals geltende Hinzuverdienstgrenze hinausgeht, zu. Gleichzeitig hat sich konjunkturell bedingt der Arbeitsmarkt seit 2023 eingetrübt, was auch die Beschäftigungschancen Älterer und im Besonderen die Chancen von Rentnerinnen und Rentnern, die bereits Einkommen in Form einer Rente beziehen, verschlechtern könnte. Eine Auswertung von Daten der Deutschen Rentenversicherung in der Vollerhebung für die Jahre 2018 bis 2024 zeigt, dass der Anteil der vorzeitigen Rentner mit großem Hinzuverdienst auch 2024 trotz Eintrübung des Arbeitsmarktes weiter steigt. Zwar schwächt sich die Dynamik im Vergleich zum Anstieg zwischen 2022 und 2023 ab. Trotzdem ist der Anstieg bei den vorzeitigen Rentnern weiterhin stärker als bei den Regelaltersrentnern. Wegen der Nachmeldungen von Beschäftigung ist davon auszugehen, dass die am aktuellen Rand für 2024 ausgewiesenen Werte noch untererfasst sind. Langjährig Versicherte und Altersrentnerinnen und -rentner, welche aufgrund einer Schwerbehinderung vorzeitig eine Altersrente beziehen, gehen seit dem Wegfall der Hinzuverdienstgrenze im Durchschnitt früher in Rente. Zudem erzielen sie mittlerweile vergleichbare Entgelte wie die Personen, die zum gesetzlichen Renteneintrittsalter in Rente gegangen sind. Das unterminiert das mit der Anhebung der Regelaltersgrenze verbundene Ziel, den Rentenbezug ins Alter zu verschieben. Zudem entscheidet sich seit 2020 ein höherer Anteil an Personen für einen vorzeitigen Renteneintritt mit Abschlägen. Unter der Prämisse, dass der Vorruhestand nicht ohne Zusatzlasten organisiert werden kann (Pimpertz, 2023), erhöht der Wegfall der Hinzuverdienstgrenze die Belastung der Gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung ausgabenseitig. |
| Abstract: | The ageing population in Germany is increasing pressure on the social insurance systems and will (in the future) exacerbate the shortage of skilled labour. To extend working lives, financial incentives have been created in recent years, in particular through the abolition of earnings limits for early retirees and, since 2026, through tax advantages for employment beyond the statutory retirement age under the so-called "active pension" (Aktivrente). Historically, additional earnings alongside early retirement were strictly limited, to €6, 300 per year until the earnings limit was raised in 2020. As a result, many retirees who took early retirement opted for marginal employment up to 2020. After the earnings limit was increased twice in 2020 and again in 2021, it was completely abolished at the beginning of 2023. Since then, early retirees have been able to earn unlimited additional income without it being offset against their pension. As a result of these reforms, the previous principle that pensions replace earned income has effectively been abolished, since it is now possible to receive both unlimited income and a full pension simultaneously. Since the complete removal of the earnings limit in 2023, the number of early retirees with so-called "high additional earnings, " i.e. earnings exceeding the former limit, has increased. At the same time, however, the labour market has deteriorated since 2023 due to cyclical factors, which may also reduce employment opportunities for older workers, particularly for retirees who already receive pension income. An analysis of German Pension Insurance full-sample data for the years 2018 to 2024 shows that the share of early retirees with high additional earnings continued to rise in 2024 despite the deterioration in the labour market. Although the pace of growth has slowed compared with the increase between 2022 and 2023, it remains stronger among early retirees than among retirees at the statutory retirement age. Due to delayed employment reporting, it can be assumed that the figures reported for 2024 are still somewhat underestimated. Persons with long contribution histories and retirees with severe disabilities have, on average, been retiring earlier since the abolition of the earnings limit. Moreover, they now earn income comparable to those who retired at the statutory retirement age. This undermines the objective associated with raising the statutory retirement age, namely increasing the effective working life. In addition, since 2020 a higher proportion of individuals has opted for early retirement with benefit reductions. Early retirement thus increases expenditure pressure on the statutory pension insurance system. |
| JEL: | H55 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwkrep:342425 |
| By: | Greenslade, Han |
| Abstract: | LGBTQ+ young people are likely to be overrepresented in the English care system and face disproportionately high levels of placement instability, discrimination, and poor mental health. Foster carers are expected to provide safe and affirming care but do so within a system characterised by inconsistent training, limited guidance, and increasing political contestation around gender and sexuality. This study explores how foster carers in England experience and enact LGBTQ+ inclusion through qualitative interviews with fifteen foster carers conducted in 2025. Drawing on a critical realist methodology and informed by the work of Nikolas Rose, Pierre Bourdieu, and Sara Ahmed, the analysis identifies a structural double bind at the heart of contemporary fostering. Carers are responsibilised for delivering inclusive practice while simultaneously having their relational expertise undermined by professional hierarchies and inadequate institutional support. The findings further suggest that organisational responses, including LGBTQ+ awareness training, often function as symbolic rather than enabling interventions, increasing uncertainty rather than confidence. Where affirming care occurs, it relies primarily on carers' relational commitment, experiential learning, and support from individual allies rather than coherent organisational infrastructure. The article argues that improving outcomes for LGBTQ+ young people requires structural reform that embeds LGBTQ+ inclusion within national standards, professional learning, and institutional culture. |
| Date: | 2026–07–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:829c5_v2 |
| By: | Bertocchi, Graziella; Dimico, Arcangelo; Falco, Chiara |
| Abstract: | Family planning is a critical issue in countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, where high fertility rates coexist with low contraceptive use alongside adverse perinatal outcomes. Using a combination of ethnographic, ecological, and folklore data, we investigate the role played in this context by postpartum sexual abstinence, an extensively documented practice that, in preindustrial societies, finds its biological justification as a means to safeguard child survival. First, we show that the duration of contemporary postpartum abstinence increases with the duration of ancestral postpartum sex taboos within a woman's ethnic group. Second, postpartum abstinence is de facto pronatalist, as it increases the number of children ever born to a woman. At the same time, it increases the number of children of a woman who have died; lengthens birth intervals though not sufficiently to meet recommended guidelines; and increases neonatal death and child stunting. Exploring the underlying mechanisms reveals that postpartum abstinence is associated with patriarchal cultural norms and that the motivation for its adoption is that it serves as a purification ritual. Overall, our findings question the biological rationale for postpartum abstinence as a means to protect child health, while aligning with anthropological evidence documenting its adoption as a ritual. |
| Keywords: | Family planning |
| JEL: | J13 I18 N37 O11 D15 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19665 |
| By: | Xing, Xianghui; Dai, Hongwei; Zhou, Yiwei; Lan, Zhou; Wu, Xinyue; Jiang, Jie; Cao, Ling |
| Abstract: | Artificial intelligence technologies are rapidly penetrating and reshaping the labor market. As a result, perceived AI substitution risk among workers has become an important issue affecting employment stability and social well-being. Using data from the Chinese Social Survey 2023, this study empirically examines the determinants of workers' perceived AI substitution risk and explores group heterogeneity. The results show that the perceived unemployment risk, number of children, and unemployment insurance are significantly positively associated with perceived AI substitution risk. In contrast, gender (Female = 0, Male = 1), age, perceived life difficulties, overall job satisfaction, job skill level, perceived socioeconomic status, and ethnicity (non-Han ethnicity = 0, Han ethnicity = 1) have a significant negative impact. The mediation analysis indicated that job satisfaction and perceived socioeconomic status reduced perceived AI substitution risk by lowering individuals' subjective evaluations of perceived unemployment risk. The heterogeneity analysis further shows that the perceived unemployment risk functions as a common core pressure source across groups. Its effect strength is constrained by the degree of technological penetration and occupational stability. Meanwhile, the influence of individual characteristics and resource endowments follows a threat appraisal-stress response pathway, with significant differences across geographical regions, urban-rural attributes, and work patterns. This study provides empirical evidence from China and offers a new analytical perspective for countries seeking to address employment anxiety triggered by technological substitution, optimize education and skills training systems, and maintain stability in the global labor market. |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence substitution;perceived artificial intelligence substitution risk;determinants |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2026–07–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:140342 |
| By: | Farida Souiah (EM - EMLyon Business School) |
| Abstract: | This article examines how motherhood reshapes ethnographic practice by bringing ideals of the " good ethnographer " and the " good mother " into tension. Drawing on an autoethnography of my fieldwork in Algeria during the Hirak movement (2019–2020), I demonstrate how caregiving responsibilities transformed the geography, temporality, and desirability of field engagement while enabling alternative care-centered modes of research. The analysis reveals three interconnected dimensions. First, episodic fieldwork and alternative field sites made perceptible dynamics that prolonged immersion can render less visible. Second, conflicting ideals of the " good mother " and " good ethnographer " reshaped the conditions of fieldwork and, more fundamentally, its very desirability. Care networks functioned as epistemic infrastructure rather than merely personal accommodation. Third, motherhood—as a biographical transition —fundamentally restructured positionality in " back-home " ethnography. Rather than asking whether care-shaped or constrained research is " good enough, " this article shifts the burden of proof: Does the ideal of unconstrained immersion justify systematically excluding researchers navigating caregiving, disability, or chronic illness? I argue that recognizing diverse ethnographic practices as epistemically generative is essential to rethinking what constitutes rigorous and valuable ethnography. |
| Keywords: | motherhood, care, autoethnography, back-home ethnography |
| Date: | 2026–07–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05704528 |
| By: | Astrid Krenz; Holger Strulik |
| Abstract: | Healthy life expectancy is conventionally computed by combining life-table mortality with independently observed health information. This paper proposes an alternative approach that computes healthy life expectancy from mortality schedules alone. Building on the empirical regularities that adult mortality follows Gompertz's law and that mortality is related to the frailty index by a power law, we introduce Mortality-Implied Continuous Health-Equivalent Life Expectancy (MICHELE). The framework is validated using the Health and Retirement Study, where MICHELE closely reproduces directly observed Continuous Health-Equivalent Life Expectancy, and using Healthy Life Expectancy from the Global Burden of Disease Study, where mortality-implied health weights explain almost all age-related variation in disability-based health weights. The results suggest that mortality schedules contain substantially more information about the biological aging process underlying healthy longevity than has generally been recognized and provide a simple approach for estimating healthy life expectancy when comparable health data are unavailable. |
| Keywords: | healthy life expectancy, health data, frailty index, Gompertz law, mortality, biological aging |
| JEL: | I10 I12 J10 J11 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12868 |
| By: | Iftikhar, Zainab; Zaharieva, Anna |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effects of low-skilled immigration on small businesses, wages and employment in Germany. We develop a search and matching model with heterogeneous workers, cross-skill matching, and endogenous entry into entrepreneurship. The model is calibrated using German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data. Quantitative analysis shows that low-skilled immigration benefits high-skilled workers while negatively affecting the welfare of low-skilled workers. It leads to the endogenous expansion of immigrant entrepreneurial activities, generating positive spillovers for all demographic groups except native entrepreneurs. Overall, there is a marginal loss to the economy in terms of per worker welfare. This loss is mitigated with increased skilled migration from India. Policies restricting immigrant entrepreneurship relax competition for native small businesses but reduce welfare for all other worker groups. Ethnic segregation of small businesses benefits low-skill native entrepreneurs. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship |
| JEL: | J23 J31 J61 J64 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:19657 |