This research uses Norwegian registry data to study the effect of parenthood on the careers of high-achieving women. It finds the child earnings penalty is substantially larger for mothers with an MBA or law degree than for mothers with a STEM or medical degree. In recent decades women have outnumbered men in higher education and … Read more
The role of parenthood on the gender gap among top earners
The intergenerational transmission of family dissolution – and how it varies by social class origin and birth cohort
This research investigates whether the social class of divorced parents has any bearing on the likelihood of their children also getting divorced. Specifically it seeks to establish whether having more advantaged parents makes divorcing less likely thereby weakening the intergenerational transmission of divorce. It finds it does not. The researchers analyse 38,000 life histories from … Read more
Dynastic Human Capital, Inequality and Intergenerational Mobility
The transmission of human capital between generations has been much studied, but most research has focused on what parents pass on to their children. This study creates a much fuller picture of these effects by examining data on four generations of extended families in Sweden. It concludes previous research has very much underestimated the influence … Read more
Does re-partnering behavior spread among former spouses?
This study investigates whether divorcees who re-partner play a role in their former spouse’s decisions to do the same. The researchers used administrative data from Statistics Netherlands to look at divorcees who remarried or lived with a new partner and the likelihood of their former spouse doing the same soon after and showed this was … Read more
Why do lower educated people separate more often? Life strains and the gradient in union dissolution
This study finds that lower educated couples are more likely to separate than their better educated peers, because they experience strain across multiple aspects of their life, including work, finance, social relationships, health and housing. The research shows that lower educated couples are not in themselves more likely to separate, but rather face a range … Read more
Understanding the effects of Covid-19 through a life course lens
The Covid-19 pandemic is shaking fundamental assumptions about the human life course in societies around the world. In this essay, we draw on our collective expertise to illustrate how a life course perspective can make critical contributions to understanding the pandemic’s effects on individuals, families, and populations. We explore the pandemic’s implications for the organization … Read more
The lost ones: The opportunities and outcomes of white, non-college-educated Americans born in the 1960s
White, non-college-educated Americans born in the 1960s face shorter life expectancies, higher medical expenses, and lower wages per unit of human capital compared with those born in the 1940s; men’s wages declined more than women’s. After documenting these changes, we use a life-cycle model of couples and singles to evaluate their effects. The drop in … Read more
The role of partnering and assortative mating for income inequality: The case of Finland, 1991–2014
This paper considers why, contrary to expectations, relationships between people with similar backgrounds, especially similar levels of education, hasn’t done more to increase income inequality. It finds that what matters more for inequality is a combination of background characteristics and a consideration of who partners in the first place. The research uses Finnish register data … Read more
Cash for Care as Special Money: The Meaning and Uses of the Care Allowance in Close Relationships in the Czech Republic
This paper investigates the responses of family members with long-term caring responsibilities in the Czech Republic to the introduction in 2007 of a cash-for-care benefit. Specifically, it examines how those family members viewed and used the benefit. The research compares two in-depth qualitative studies: one undertaken with adult children providing care to their parents and … Read more
Age at Parents’ Separation and Achievement: Evidence from France Using a Sibling Approach
This paper investigates the link between parental separation and children’s achievement in adulthood. Using a French dataset on “Education-Training-Employment”, I first estimate a random effects model and then examine the differences in age at divorce for children within the same family, to control for divorced family selection. Three outcomes are analysed: number of years of … Read more