Gender-Specific Effects of Unemployment on Family Formation: A Cross-National Perspective

Christian Schmitt

No 841, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of unemployment on the propensity to start a family. Unemployment is accompanied by bad occupational prospects and impending economic deprivation, placing the well-being of a future family at risk. I analyze unemployment at the intersection of state-dependence and the reduced opportunity costs of parenthood, distinguishing between men and women across a set of welfare states. Using micro-data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), I apply event history methods to analyze longitudinal samples of first-birth transitions in France, Finland, Germany, and the UK (1994-2001). The results highlight spurious negative effects of unemployment on family formation among men, which can be attributed to the lack of breadwinner capabilities in the inability to financially support a family. Women, in contrast, show positive effects of unemployment on the propensity to have a first child in all countries except France. These effects prevail even after ontrolling for labour market and income-related factors. The findings are pronounced in Germany and the UK where work-family conflicts are the cause of high opportunity costs of motherhood, and the gender-specific division of labour is still highly traditional. Particularly among women with a moderate and low level of education, unemployment clearly increases the likelihood to have a first child.

Keywords: family formation; fertility; unemployment; cross-national comparison (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C41 J13 J24 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 72 p.
Date: 2008
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-lab and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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Working Paper: Gender-Specific Effects of Unemployment on Family Formation: A Cross-National Perspective (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp841

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