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Effects of Work-Related Absences on Families: Evidence from the Gulf War

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  • Joshua D. Angrist
  • John H. Johnson IV

Abstract

The Gulf War provides an opportunity to estimate the effect of work-related separations on military families. Using data from the 1992 Survey of Officers and Enlisted Personnel, the authors estimate the effect of Gulf War deployment on divorce rates, spousal employment, and children's disability rates. Deployment of male soldiers had no effect on marital dissolution, though it did lead soldiers' wives to work less. In contrast, deployment of female soldiers led to a large and statistically significant increase in divorce rates, suggesting deployment of women placed a marked strain on marriages. Deployment of female soldiers did not affect husbands' labor supply. Finally, the results show no statistically significant increase in disability rates among the children of deployed personnel.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua D. Angrist & John H. Johnson IV, 2000. "Effects of Work-Related Absences on Families: Evidence from the Gulf War," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 54(1), pages 41-58, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:54:y:2000:i:1:p:41-58
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390005400103
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Victor Lavy, 1996. "The Effect of Teen Childbearing and Single Parenthood on Childhood Disabilities and Progress in School," NBER Working Papers 5807, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Engel, Rozlyn C. & Gallagher, Luke B. & Lyle, David S., 2010. "Military deployments and children's academic achievement: Evidence from Department of Defense Education Activity Schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 73-82, February.
    2. Antecol, Heather & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2008. "Racial and ethnic discrimination in local consumer markets: Exploiting the army's procedures for matching personnel to duty locations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 496-509, September.
    3. Clemens, Michael A. & Tiongson, Erwin R., 2012. "Split decisions : family finance when a policy discontinuity allocates overseas work," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6287, The World Bank.
    4. Antecol, Heather & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2008. "Identity and racial harassment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(3-4), pages 529-557, June.
    5. Stojetz, Wolfgang & Brück, Tilman, 2023. "Exposure to collective gender-based violence causes intimate partner violence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    6. Anne Portlock, 2022. "Nurses without Borders: The Impact of Licensing Barriers on Employment," Working Papers 2022-03, Department of Economics and Geosciences, US Air Force Academy.
    7. David S. Lyle, 2006. "Using Military Deployments and Job Assignments to Estimate the Effect of Parental Absences and Household Relocations on Children's Academic Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 319-350, April.
    8. Scott Carrell & Jonathan Zinman, 2014. "In Harm's Way? Payday Loan Access and Military Personnel Performance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(9), pages 2805-2840.
    9. P. Wesley Routon, 2017. "Military service and marital dissolution: a trajectory analysis," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 335-355, March.
    10. Sebastian Negrusa & Brighita Negrusa & James Hosek, 2014. "Gone to war: have deployments increased divorces?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 473-496, April.
    11. Cesur, Resul & Freidman, Travis & Sabia, Joseph J., 2020. "War, traumatic health shocks, and religiosity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 475-502.
    12. Antecol, Heather & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2010. "The effect of community-level socio-economic conditions on threatening racial encounters," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 517-529, November.
    13. Stephen L. Mehay & William R. Bowman, 2005. "Marital Status and Productivity: Evidence from Personnel Data," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(1), pages 63-77, July.
    14. Cesur, Resul & Sabia, Joseph J. & Tekin, Erdal, 2013. "The psychological costs of war: Military combat and mental health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 51-65.
    15. Wolfgang Stojetz & Tilman Brück, 2023. "Exposure to collective gender-based violence causes intimate partner violence," HiCN Working Papers 389, Households in Conflict Network.
    16. Brighita Negrusa & Sebastian Negrusa, 2014. "Home Front: Post-Deployment Mental Health and Divorces," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 895-916, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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