IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/2596e.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Parental job loss and early child development in the Great Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Mari, Gabriele
  • Keizer, Renske

Abstract

Parental job loss may stifle early child development, and this might help explain why children of displaced parents fare worse later in life. To investigate this, the study relies on Irish cohort data (N = 6,303) collected around the Great Recession. A novel approach to mediation analysis is deployed, assessing predictions derived from models of family investment and family stress. Parental job loss is found to exacerbate problem behaviour at age 3 and 5, via the channels of parental income and maternal negative parenting. By depressing parental income, job loss also hampers children's verbal ability at age 3. This is tied to reduced affordability of formal childcare, highlighting a policy lever that might tame the intergenerational toll of job loss.

Suggested Citation

  • Mari, Gabriele & Keizer, Renske, 2020. "Parental job loss and early child development in the Great Recession," SocArXiv 2596e, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:2596e
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/2596e
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/5e9f200335f4bf00201f9360/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/2596e?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amy Hsin & Christina Felfe, 2014. "When Does Time Matter? Maternal Employment, Children’s Time With Parents, and Child Development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1867-1894, October.
    2. Peter, Frauke, 2016. "The effect of involuntary maternal job loss on children's behaviour and non-cognitive skills," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 43-63.
    3. Kristiina Huttunen & Jarle Møen & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2018. "Job Loss and Regional Mobility," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 479-509.
    4. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    5. Marcus, Jan, 2013. "The Effect of Unemployment on the Mental Health of Spouses – Evidence from plant closures in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 32(3), pages 546-558.
    6. Stevens, Ann Huff & Schaller, Jessamyn, 2011. "Short-run effects of parental job loss on children's academic achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 289-299, April.
    7. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    8. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Nicolás Salamanca & Anna Zhu, 2019. "Parenting style as an investment in human development," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1315-1352, October.
    9. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    10. Papageorge, Nicholas & Ronda, Victor & Zheng, Yu, 2014. "The Economic Value of Breaking Bad: Misbehavior, Schooling and the Labor Market," Economics Working Paper Archive 64574, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics, revised 16 Jun 2020.
    11. Kiernan, Kathleen E. & Huerta, Maria Carmen, 2008. "Economic deprivation, maternal depression, parenting and children's cognitive and emotional development in early childhood," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 43720, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Cantillon, Bea & Chzhen, Yekaterina & Handa, Sudhanshu & Nolan, Brian (ed.), 2017. "Children of Austerity: Impact of the Great Recession on Child Poverty in Rich Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198797968.
    13. Wodtke, Geoffrey & Zhou, Xiang, 2019. "Effect Decomposition in the Presence of Treatment-induced Confounding: A Regression-with-residuals Approach," SocArXiv 86d2k, Center for Open Science.
    14. Arleen Leibowitz, 1974. "Home Investments in Children," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 432-456, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. James J. Heckman & Jora Stixrud & Sergio Urzua, 2006. "The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 411-482, July.
    16. M. Savage & T. Callan & B. Nolan & B. Colgan, 2019. "The Great Recession, Austerity and Inequality: Lessons from Ireland," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(2), pages 312-336, June.
    17. Mari Rege & Kjetil Telle & Mark Votruba, 2011. "Parental Job Loss and Children's School Performance," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 78(4), pages 1462-1489.
    18. Steven J. Davis & Till Von Wachter, 2011. "Recessions and the Costs of Job Loss," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 1-72.
    19. Philip Oreopoulos & Marianne Page & Ann Huff Stevens, 2008. "The Intergenerational Effects of Worker Displacement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 455-483, July.
    20. Elizabeth Washbrook & Paul Gregg & Carol Propper, 2014. "A decomposition analysis of the relationship between parental income and multiple child outcomes," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 177(4), pages 757-782, October.
    21. Bratberg, Espen & Nilsen, Øivind Anti & Vaage, Kjell, 2008. "Job losses and child outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 591-603, August.
    22. Christopher Whelan & Helen Russell & Bertrand Maître, 2016. "Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: Polarization, Individualization or ‘Middle Class Squeeze’?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 503-526, March.
    23. Paul Gregg & Lindsay Macmillan & Bilal Nasim, 2012. "The Impact of Fathers’ Job Loss during the 1980s Recession on their Child’s Educational Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 12/288, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    24. Felfe, Christina & Lalive, Rafael, 2018. "Does early child care affect children's development?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 33-53.
    25. Jessamyn Schaller & Mariana Zerpa, 2019. "Short-Run Effects of Parental Job Loss on Child Health," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 5(1), pages 8-41, Winter.
    26. Coelli, Michael B., 2011. "Parental job loss and the education enrollment of youth," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 25-35, January.
    27. Silvia Mendolia, 2014. "The impact of husband’s job loss on partners’ mental health," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 277-294, June.
    28. Margherita Fort & Andrea Ichino & Giulio Zanella, 2020. "Cognitive and Noncognitive Costs of Day Care at Age 0–2 for Children in Advantaged Families," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(1), pages 158-205.
    29. Geoffrey T. Wodtke & Zahide Alaca & Xiang Zhou, 2020. "Regression‐with‐residuals estimation of marginal effects: a method of adjusting for treatment‐induced confounders that may also be effect modifiers," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 183(1), pages 311-332, January.
    30. Rasheda Khanam & Son Nghiem, 2016. "Family Income and Child Cognitive and Noncognitive Development in Australia: Does Money Matter?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(3), pages 597-621, June.
    31. Lindo, Jason M., 2011. "Parental job loss and infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 869-879.
    32. Nathaniel G. Hilger, 2016. "Parental Job Loss and Children's Long-Term Outcomes: Evidence from 7 Million Fathers' Layoffs," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 247-283, July.
    33. Paul Gregg & Lindsey Macmillan & Bilal Nasim, 2012. "The Impact of Fathers' Job Loss during the Recession of the 1980s on their Children's Educational Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 237-264, June.
    34. Arleen Leibowitz, 1974. "Home Investments in Children," NBER Chapters, in: Marriage, Family, Human Capital, and Fertility, pages 111-135, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Greg J. Duncan & Katherine Magnuson, 2013. "Investing in Preschool Programs," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 109-132, Spring.
    36. Leibowitz, Arleen, 1974. "Home Investments in Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(2), pages 111-131, Part II, .
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2019. "Consequences of Parental Job Loss on the Family Environment and on Human Capital Formation: Evidence from Plant Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 12559, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2020. "Consequences of parental job loss on the family environment and on human capital formation-Evidence from workplace closures," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Ubaldi, Michele & Picchio, Matteo, 2023. "Intergenerational scars: The impact of parental unemployment on individual health later in life," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1271, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Juliane Hennecke & Astrid Pape, 2022. "Suddenly a stay-at-home dad? Short- and long-term consequences of fathers’ job loss on time investment in the household," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 579-607, June.
    5. Paul Bingley & Lorenzo Cappellari & Marco Ovidi, 2023. "When it hurts the most: timing of parental job loss and a child’s education," LISER Working Paper Series 2023-12, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    6. Di Maio, Michele & Nisticò, Roberto, 2019. "The effect of parental job loss on child school dropout: Evidence from the Occupied Palestinian Territories," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    7. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svaleryd, Helena, 2019. "Parental job loss and child human capital in the short and long run," Working Paper Series 2019:3, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    8. Mari, Gabriele & Keizer, Renske & van Gaalen, Ruben, 2022. "The Timing of Parental Unemployment, Insurance, and Children's Education," SocArXiv 7rm6g, Center for Open Science.
    9. Kong, Nancy & Phipps, Shelley & Watson, Barry, 2021. "Parental economic insecurity and child health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    10. S. Filiz, 2016. "Mothers’ Involuntary Job Loss and Children’s Academic Achievement," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 98-127, March.
    11. Martti Kaila & Emily Nix & Krista Riukula, 2021. "Disparate Impacts of Job Loss by Parental Income and Implications for Intergenerational Mobility," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 53, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    12. Neffke, Frank & Nedelkoska, Ljubica & Wiederhold, Simon, 2024. "Skill mismatch and the costs of job displacement," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(2).
    13. Peter, Frauke, 2016. "The effect of involuntary maternal job loss on children's behaviour and non-cognitive skills," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 43-63.
    14. Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, 2020. "Job loss at home: children’s school performance during the Great Recession," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 243-286, September.
    15. Gathmann, Christina & Huttunen, Kristiina & Jernström, Laura & Sääksvuori, Lauri & Stitzing, Robin, 2020. "In Sickness and in Health: Job Displacement and Health. Spillovers in Couples," Working Papers 133, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    16. Ruiz-Valenzuela, Jenifer, 2015. "Job loss at home: children’s school performanceduring the Great Recession in Spain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63804, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Mari, Gabriele & Keizer, Renske, 2020. "Families of Austerity: Welfare Cuts and Family Stress in Britain," SocArXiv vdej8, Center for Open Science.
    18. Patrick Bennett & Amine Ouazad, 2020. "Job Displacement, Unemployment, and Crime: Evidence from Danish Microdata and Reforms [The Link between Human Capital, Mass Layoffs, and Firm Deaths]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(5), pages 2182-2220.
    19. Kjell G. Salvanes & Barton Willage & Alexander Willén, 2024. "The Effect of Labor Market Shocks across the Life Cycle," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 121-160.
    20. Eliason, Marcus & Hensvik, Lena & Kramarz, Francis & Skans, Oskar Nordström, 2023. "Social connections and the sorting of workers to firms," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 233(2), pages 468-506.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:2596e. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://arabixiv.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.