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Living Conditions of Children and Parental Well-Being – Evidence from German Data on Life Satisfaction

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  • Schwarze, Johannes

    (University of Bamberg)

Abstract

The question that this paper addresses is whether or not parents are altruistic towards their children. A new approach will be introduced, where the life satisfaction data of parents will be regressed onto the living conditions of their children who now live independently. After controlling for unobserved household characteristics, no positive effect of children’s actual household income on parents’ satisfaction can be found. However, children’s health and education have a positive impact on parental well-being. Both can be interpreted as an approximation of children’s lifetime incomes. We also regress parental life satisfaction on the predicted life satisfaction of their children. A significant positive effect can be found, which can be interpreted as weak evidence for parental altruism. The paper uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP).

Suggested Citation

  • Schwarze, Johannes, 2004. "Living Conditions of Children and Parental Well-Being – Evidence from German Data on Life Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 1200, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1200
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yuxin Li & Karen Mumford, "undated". "Aspirations, Expectations and Education Outcomes for Children in Britain: Considering Relative Measures of Family Efficiency," Discussion Papers 09/26, Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. Jose Alberto Molina & María Navarro & Inmaculada García, 2007. "Modelling interdependences between spouses by estimating income satisfaction," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 4(10), pages 1-5.
    3. Inmaculada García & José Molina & María Navarro, 2007. "How Satisfied are Spouses with their Leisure Time? Evidence from Europe," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 546-565, December.
    4. Miaoqing Yang & Eugenio Zucchelli, 2015. "The impact of public smoking bans on well-being externalities: evidence from a natural experiment," Working Papers 85310008, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    5. Molina, José Alberto & Navarro Paniagua, Maria & Walker, Ian, 2007. "Mums and Their Sons, Dads and Their Daughters: Panel Data Evidence of Interdependent Marginal Utilities across 14 EU Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 2734, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Hans‐Peter Kohler & Jere R. Behrman & Axel Skytthe, 2005. "Partner + Children = Happiness? The Effects of Partnerships and Fertility on Well‐Being," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 31(3), pages 407-445, September.
    7. Markus König & Christian Pfarr & Peter Zweifel, 2014. "Mutual Altruism: Evidence from Alzheimer Patients and Their Spouse Caregivers," Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research, in: Preference Measurement in Health, volume 24, pages 141-160, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    8. Inmaculada Garcia & Jose-Alberto Molina & Maria Navarro, 2010. "The effects of education on spouses' satisfaction in Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(28), pages 3607-3618.
    9. Jose Alberto Molina & Maria Navarro & Ian Walker, 2007. "Mums and their sons; Dads and their daughters: Panel Data Evidence of Parental Altruism across 14 EU Countries," Working Papers 200721, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    10. Miaoqing Yang & Eugenio Zucchelli, 2018. "The impact of public smoking bans on well‐being externalities: Evidence from a policy experiment," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 65(3), pages 224-247, July.
    11. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:4:y:2007:i:10:p:1-5 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    family; altruism; life satisfaction; health and random effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • I19 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Other
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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