Economic insecurity and political preferences

in Oxford Economic Papers (in press)

Economic insecurity has attracted growing attention, but there is no consensus as to its definition. We characterize a class of individual economic-insecurity measures based on the time profile of ... [more ▼]

Economic insecurity has attracted growing attention, but there is no consensus as to its definition. We characterize a class of individual economic-insecurity measures based on the time profile of economic resources. We apply this economic-insecurity measure to political-preference data in the USA, UK, and Germany. Conditional on current economic resources, economic insecurity is associated with both greater political participation (support for a party or the intention to vote) and more support for conservative parties. In particular, economic insecurity predicts greater support for both Donald Trump before the 2016 US Presidential election and the UK leaving the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum. [less ▲]

Life Satisfaction and the Human Development Index Across the World

in Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (2023), 54

We use annual data on over 150 countries between 2005 and 2018 to look at the relationship between subjective well-being (both cognitive and affective) and the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI ... [more ▼]

We use annual data on over 150 countries between 2005 and 2018 to look at the relationship between subjective well-being (both cognitive and affective) and the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI appears to be more closely related to cognitive than affective well-being. We also consider the relationships between the three HDI components (the Income, Health and Education Indices) and well-being, and find that, on average, the Income Index has the strongest predictive power. Importantly, we find that the three HDI components only matter equally in Western and rich countries. Our analysis contributes to the discussion about cultural sensitivity in paradigms of societal development in two ways. We first show that differences in preferences towards development aims exist. Second, we propose a weighting procedure for a culturally-sensitive version of the HDI. [less ▲]

A Natural Experiment on Job Insecurity and Fertility in France

in Review of Economics and Statistics (2022)

Job insecurity can have wide-ranging consequences outside of the labour market. We here argue that it reduces fertility amongst the employed. The 1999 rise in the French Delalande tax, paid by large ... [more ▼]

Job insecurity can have wide-ranging consequences outside of the labour market. We here argue that it reduces fertility amongst the employed. The 1999 rise in the French Delalande tax, paid by large private firms when they laid off workers aged over 50, produced an exogenous rise in job insecurity for younger workers in these firms. A difference-in-differences analysis of French ECHP data reveals that this greater job insecurity for these under-50s significantly reduced their probability of having a new child by 3.7 percentage points (with a 95% confidence interval between 0.7 and 6.6 percentage points). Reduced fertility is only found at the intensive margin: job insecurity reduces family size but not the probability of parenthood itself. Our results also suggest negative selection into parenthood, as this fertility effect does not appear for low-income and less-educated workers. [less ▲]

Characteristics associated with COVID‑19 vaccine hesitancy

in Scientific Reports (2022)

Understanding what lies behind actual COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is fundamental to help policy makers increase vaccination rates and reach herd immunity. We use June 2021 data from the COME-HERE survey to ... [more ▼]

Understanding what lies behind actual COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is fundamental to help policy makers increase vaccination rates and reach herd immunity. We use June 2021 data from the COME-HERE survey to explore the predictors of actual vaccine hesitancy in France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden. We estimate a linear-probability model with a rich set of covariates and address issues of common-method variance. 13% of our sample say they do not plan to be vaccinated. Post-Secondary education, home-ownership, having an underlying health condition, and one standard-deviation higher age or income are all associated with lower vaccine hesitancy of 2–4.5% points. Conservative-leaning political attitudes and a one standard-deviation lower degree of confidence in the government increase this probability by 3 and 6% points respectively. Vaccine hesitancy in Spain and Sweden is significantly lower than in the other countries. [less ▲]

Gender, Loneliness and Happiness during COVID-19

in Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (2022), 101

We analyse a measure of loneliness from a representative sample of German individuals interviewed in both 2017 and at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Both men and women felt lonelier ... [more ▼]

We analyse a measure of loneliness from a representative sample of German individuals interviewed in both 2017 and at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Both men and women felt lonelier during the COVID-19 pandemic than they did in 2017. The pandemic more than doubled the gender loneliness gap: women were lonelier than men in 2017, and the 2017-2020 rise in loneliness was far larger for women. This rise is mirrored in life-satisfaction scores. Men’s life satisfaction changed only little between 2017 and 2020; yet that of women fell dramatically, and sufficiently so to produce a female penalty in life satisfaction. We estimate that almost all of this female penalty is explained by the disproportionate rise in loneliness for women during the COVID-19 pandemic. [less ▲]

It's a Family Affair: Family Health Shocks and Child Well-Being

in Willems, Helmut Erich; Samuel, Robin; Vögele, Claus (Eds.) et al Well-being and health-related behavior of adolescents. Disciplinary concepts, empirical findings, international perspectives, and practical approaches (working title) (2021)

The fall in income inequality during COVID-19 in four European countries

in Journal of Economic Inequality (2021), 19

We here use panel data from the COME-HERE survey to track income inequality during COVID-19 in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Relative inequality in equivalent household disposable income among ... [more ▼]

We here use panel data from the COME-HERE survey to track income inequality during COVID-19 in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Relative inequality in equivalent household disposable income among individuals changed in a hump-shaped way between January 2020 and January 2021, with an initial rise from January to May 2020 being more than reversed by September 2020. Absolute inequality also fell over this period. Due to the pandemic some households lost more than others, and government compensation schemes were targeted towards the poorest, implying that on average income differences decreased. Generalized Lorenz domination reveals that these distributive changes reduced welfare in Italy. [less ▲]

Gender Norms, Fairness, and Relative Labor Supply Within Households

in Labour Economics (2020)

Using data in the United States, UK and Germany, we show that women whose working hours exceed those of their male partners report lower life satisfaction on average. By contrast, men do not report lower ... [more ▼]

Using data in the United States, UK and Germany, we show that women whose working hours exceed those of their male partners report lower life satisfaction on average. By contrast, men do not report lower life satisfaction from working more hours than their female partners. An analysis of possible mechanisms shows that in couples where the woman works more hours than the man, women do not spend significantly less time doing household chores. Women with egalitarian ideologies are likely to perceive this unequal division of labour as unfair, ultimately reducing their life satisfaction. [less ▲]

Working Time Mismatches and Self-Assessed Health of Married Couples: Evidence from Germany

in Social Science and Medicine (2019)

Underemployment and overemployment are widespread in developed countries and have detrimental consequences on health. This article tackles the question of the relationship between health and own, spousal ... [more ▼]

Underemployment and overemployment are widespread in developed countries and have detrimental consequences on health. This article tackles the question of the relationship between health and own, spousal and cross working time mismatches in bi-active couples. Using 83,000 observations from the German SOEP (1997–2012) I demonstrate that self-assessed health is reduced in case of overemployment and underemployment. I find that living with an overemployed partner is negatively correlated with own health. However, I show that the effect of overemployment is lower for those who live with an overemployed partner. This positive cross-effect is consistent with the existence of a comparison norm effect within household. Those results are robust to a battery of sensitivity checks and mostly transit via mental health. This article concludes that overemployment does not only affect the overemployed workers but also their partner and not accounting for such spillovers leads to an underestimation of the total health costs of overemployment. [less ▲]

The Causes and Consequences of Early-Adult Unemployment: Evidence from Cohort Data

in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2019)

We here use the employment-history data from the British Cohort Study to calculate an individual’s total experience of unemployment from the time they left education up to age 30. We show that ... [more ▼]

We here use the employment-history data from the British Cohort Study to calculate an individual’s total experience of unemployment from the time they left education up to age 30. We show that, conditional on current unemployment, this experience is negatively correlated with the life satisfaction that the individual reports at age 30, so that past unemployment scars. We also identify the childhood circumstances and family background that predict this adult unemployment experience. Educational achievement and good behaviour at age 16 both reduce adult unemployment experience, and emotional health at age 16 is a particularly strong predictor of unemployment experience for women. Both boys and girls reproduce on average their parents’ unemployment, so that adult unemployment experience is transmitted between generations. We uncover evidence of a social-norm effect: children from less-advantaged backgrounds both experience more adult unemployment but are less affected by it in well-being. [less ▲]