Heterogeneous impacts of local unemployment rates on child neglect: Evidence from Japan’s vital statistics on mortality

Masato Oikawa (), Takumi Toyono (), Haruko Noguchi () and Akira Kawamura ()
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Masato Oikawa: Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University
Takumi Toyono: Graduate School of Economics, Waseda University
Haruko Noguchi: Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University
Akira Kawamura: Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University

No 2405, Working Papers from Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics

Abstract: This study examines the causal impact of the local unemployment rate on child death cases due to unintentional drowning – a common consequence of child neglect – using vital statistics from Japan. We use predicted overall and gender-specific local unemployment rates derived from a shift-share research design, rather than the raw local unemployment rates. Our estimation results reveal that a one-percent increase in the overall local unemployment rate correlates with a 7.13% rise in child death cases due to unintentional drowning. When analyzing gender-specific unemployment rates, we find that only increases in female unemployment rates are associated with an uptick in tragic cases. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of female local unemployment rate is more pronounced in regions characterized by lower socioeconomic status, higher proportions of younger parents, a greater prevalence of single-parent households, and fewer public resources. Furthermore, our findings suggest that younger single parents are particularly susceptible to the mental health impacts of increases in female local unemployment rates.

Keywords: child neglect; child death cases; unemployment rate; shift-share research design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2024-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-mac and nep-ure
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