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Singles, Couples, and Their Labor Supply: Long-Run Trends and Short-Run Fluctuations

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  • Jonna Olsson

Abstract

Women's increased involvement in the economy has been an important change in labor markets during the past century. I show that a macroeconomic model taking into account gender and household composition in an otherwise parsimonious off-the-shelf setting captures key historical labor supply facts regarding trend and volatility across subgroups. Evaluating the economy's response to aggregate shocks at different points in time shows that the underlying trend growth in married women's employment contributed to the perceived quick employment recoveries after recessions before 1990, and the absence of growth thereafter consequently helps explain the more recent slower recoveries.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonna Olsson, 2025. "Singles, Couples, and Their Labor Supply: Long-Run Trends and Short-Run Fluctuations," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 1-34, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejmac:v:17:y:2025:i:1:p:1-34
    DOI: 10.1257/mac.20200449
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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