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Intergenerational Scars: The Impact of Parental Unemployment on Individual Health Later in Life

Author

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  • Ubaldi Michele

    (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy)

  • Picchio Matteo

    (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy)

Abstract

This paper studies whether individuals that experienced parental unemployment during their childhood/early adolescence have poorer health once they reach the adulthood. We used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 2002 until 2018. Our identification strategy of the causal effect of parental unemployment relied on plant closures as exogenous variation of the individual labor market condition. We combined matching methods and parametric estimation to strengthen the causal interpretation of the estimates. On the one hand, we found a nil effect for parental unemployment on mental health. On the other hand, we detected a negative effect on physical health, which is stronger if parental unemployment occurred in late periods of the childhood and heterogeneous across gender. The negative effect of parental unemployment on physical health may be explained by a higher alcohol and tobacco consumption later in life.

Suggested Citation

  • Ubaldi Michele & Picchio Matteo, 2025. "Intergenerational Scars: The Impact of Parental Unemployment on Individual Health Later in Life," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 26(1), pages 35-70.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:26:y:2025:i:1:p:35-70:n:1003
    DOI: 10.1515/ger-2024-0058
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental unemployment; plant closure; mental health; physical health; health behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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