Journal of Family and Economic Issues最新文献

The Nordic welfare states are considered advanced in terms of gender equality, but even in these countries women still take longer family leave and have lower earnings than men. This study provides new insights by assessing the differences in accumulated midlife earnings associated with childbearing between women and men in Finland and Sweden. We pay particular attention to the size of the gender gap in accumulated earnings across groups. We hypothesize that the gender gap will be larger among those with a larger number of children, among those with a lower level of education, and overall in Finland. The study is based on complete population register data, with highly accurate measures of earnings over decades. Our results show that by the age of 44, women born in 1974–1975 in Finland and Sweden had earned on average 32% and 29% less than men, respectively. Childbearing strongly modifies the gender gap, especially in Finland, and the highly educated have moderately smaller gaps in both countries. Our results show that, even the Nordic welfare states, despite their strong policy emphasis on gender equality and their success in achieving high levels of female labor force participation, are far from closing the gender gap in earnings accumulated over the first half of the life course. Our results also suggest that governments seeking to achieve gender equality should be cautious about providing long family-related leave with flat-rate compensation.

Work-family balance (WFB) is attained if parents combine work and family roles aligned with their values. For an egalitarian parent aiming to implement a 50/50-split-model, this means sharing paid work, childcare, and housework equally with their partner (involvement balance), performing well in all roles (effective balance), while having positive emotions (emotional balance). This is difficult since work and family are competing for time and attention. Therefore, this article presents resources which can help parents attain WFB within a 50/50-split-model. Quantitative data of n = 1036 couples participating in the Dresden Study on Parenting, Work, and Mental Health (DREAM) were used to calculate the implementation rate of the 50/50-split-model at 14 months postpartum. Quantitative DREAM data were screened to purposively select n = 25 participants implementing a 50/50-split-model for the qualitative study DREAM_TALK. Problem-centered interviews were conducted and analyzed via qualitative content analysis. Quantitative results showed a 50/50-split-model implementation rate of 3.8–17.5% among German parents. Qualitative results revealed 14 individual- and eight macro-level resources to facilitate WFB within a 50/50-split-model. Individual-level examples are acknowledging benefits of childcare assistance, segmentation from paid work and controversially, in other situations, integration of paid work and family. Macro-level examples are availability of childcare assistance, of solo paternal leave, paid work < 39 h/week, employee flexibility options, and family-friendly workplace cultures. To conclude, the full potential of individual-level resources applied by parents is attained when supported by macro-level resources provided by politics and employers. Parents, politics, and employers can facilitate WFB within the 50/50-split-model to foster gender equality.

When in a relationship, a person’s financial situation may impact not only themselves but also their partner, making information about income, debt, and spending meaningful. Relationship partners may sometimes turn to clandestine means of protecting or seeking this financial information. This study examines the interplay of how partners handle financial information. In a longitudinal study of 124 couples, both partners reported on financial infidelity (hiding financial information) and financial snooping (covertly seeking financial information) at the beginning of a month and over the course of the month. Participants with worse communication skills reported both more positive financial infidelity attitudes and more positive snooping attitudes. Across the month, participants reported hiding more financial information if their partner reported snooping more (and vice versa), suggesting a mutuality of secretive financial behaviors. Participants with partners who hid more financial information and had more positive financial infidelity attitudes, as well as those who engaged in more financial snooping during the study, reported decreasing financial harmony at the end of the study. Participants who hid more financial information during the study reported less relationship satisfaction at the end of the study. In sum, this study underlines the importance of open communication about finances in relationships.

This paper takes a cross-national perspective and examines the association between the individual disposition to pursue wealth and success (status seeking) and work–family conflicts. We use data from the 2010 European Social Survey on more than 15,000 individuals from 26 countries who were of working age and living in families with children. The sample selection followed a stratified random sampling strategy and data were collected via computer-assisted personal interviews and pen and pencil interviews administered by trained interview personnel. Employing pooled and comparative single-country regression analyses as well as correlational analyses at the macro-level of countries, our results show that status seeking is related to higher levels of work–family conflict but that the strength of association is vastly different across countries. This individual-level effect is mainly driven by job characteristics and less so by socio-demographics in most of the countries studied. At the country level, better conditions for work and family reconciliation provided by welfare states dampen the effect of ambitiousness on work–family conflict, but only marginally. Interestingly, national wealth (GDP) strengthens the association, while differences in income inequality (Gini coefficient) among countries are not relevant in this regard. Our results highlight the need for a cross-national perspective when determining the antecedents of work–family conflicts.

What affects family CEO behaviour? The answer to this question is fundamental if we aim to understand the decisions of family CEOs, in particular when facing a crisis. In this article, we examine how the history of a country, in our case Lebanon in the Middle-East, influences the behaviour of CEOs. We particularly focus on family firms as history-dense organizations with its multiple adversities. Investigating this neglected aspect of history research, we emphasize the role of environment in shaping the decision making of family CEOs. Drawing on neuroscience and particularly on mental time travel, we explore the influence of the shocks these people have experienced in their country and how their actions are inspired by what they have previously lived. Our findings from a longitudinal study of five cases show that when family firms face the dual challenge of survival and growth in a turbulent environment, the family CEO has to make bold decisions.

Family businesses are increasingly recognized for their significance in the global economy, constituting a growing portion of companies worldwide and elevating the importance of this topic on governmental agendas. Unique challenges confront family firms, intertwining business decisions with familial repercussions. Among these challenges, the succession process emerges as a critical threat to their continuity. Inadequate solutions to the question of succession often lead to organizational failure, underscoring the urgency of addressing this issue. This study endeavors to construct an analysis model to support decision-makers throughout the succession journey, integrating a constructivist approach that merges cognitive mapping and interpretive structural modeling (ISM). This dual methodology facilitates the swift identification and analysis of factors crucial for smoother family business succession. The model development leverages insights from an expert panel and entails delineating cause-and-effect relationships among identified determinants and prioritizing these factors based on their significance. Subsequently, the model undergoes validation through a consolidation session with experts from the Associação de Empresas Familiares (i.e., Family Business Association in Portuguese), who assess its practical applicability. This includes perspectives from a Brazilian expert renowned for his understanding of family business dynamics within an emerging economy—Brazil. The insights gleaned from these sessions inform recommendations on implementing the tested procedures within real-life family enterprises, thereby contributing to the sustainability and longevity of these businesses.

This paper evaluates the effect of unplanned fertility shocks on women’s careers. I exploit the early repeal of abortion bans in five US states. This leads to variation in access to abortion across states and birth cohorts, which allows the estimation of the effect of accessing abortion at a certain age on women’s fertility. The evidence suggests that accessing abortion before the age of 21 delayed the age at which women gave birth to their first child by half a year on average. I also document an increase in completed fertility among Black women who received access to abortion early in their fertility cycle. The resulting variation in fertility realizations is then used to estimate the effect of fertility on women’s careers. I find that wages increase significantly as a result of the delay of an unplanned start of motherhood. This increase in wages translates into a 10% increase in labor earnings among Black women, and it is completely offset by the a decrease in labor supply for White women.

Couples’ stability at younger ages is often a precondition for family formation and childbearing. While there is evidence that the COVID-19 crisis has impacted union formation in high-income countries, micro-level studies on union dissolution are almost absent. Our data stems from the Youth Report project of Toniolo Institute, collected in April/May and October/November 2021, on quota samples of young individuals (aged 18 to 34) in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and the UK. Our explorative research, undertaken with logistic regression models, provides evidence on how employment vulnerability (e.g., holding a temporary occupation) was associated with different likelihoods of breaking up (or intending to) before the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that employment vulnerability spilled into separation plans during the economic recession and in European regions (NUTS-1 or NUTS-2 level) reporting poorly performing labor markets, in terms of young women’s employment and young adults’ unemployment. Additionally, among men with less vulnerable employment conditions, couple stability is less negatively affected by the recession. Finally, we find that men report a higher likelihood of revising their pre-pandemic intention to break up for non-economic reasons, which is interpretable—at least in some cases—as evidence of a “cocoon effect”.

This paper analyzes how variables that shape intrahousehold bargaining relate to spouses’ labor supply. We estimate a collective model using data from the EU-SILC over 2004–2019 for 17 countries. Results provide evidence of the relevance of the following distribution factors: sex ratio, non-labor income, age difference, education difference, and fertility rates. The sex ratio seems to be a distribution factor in Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland. In addition, the wife’s share of non-labor income is a distribution factor in Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. In Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the UK the spouses’ age gap displays opposite signs on spouses’ labor supply, whereas in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and the UK the spouses’ education level differences display intrahousehold bargaining signs. Finally, the fertility rate is a distribution factor in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Switzerland, and the UK. These results indicate that spousal- and country-specific characteristics are assessed differently across Europe and may help planners to implement household policies on cash transfers, schooling, and fertility.

The present study examines the impact of family financial socialization theory (FFST) subjective constructs consisting of financial socialization (FS), financial literacy (FL), financial attitude, and financial behavior on peri-urban areas male villagers’ financial well-being (FWB) in an emerging economy. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 also emphasized improving FWB, especially by achieving SDG-1, SDG-3, and SDG-10. Data from 429 male villagers belonging to villages in peri-urban areas were collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire by applying a purposive sampling technique. The study hypotheses were assessed by employing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results show that male villagers’ financial behavior is most significantly determined by their financial attitude, followed by financial socialization (FS) and financial literacy (FL). Notably, financial behavior emerged as a major antecedent of male villagers’ financial well-being (FWB), followed by FS, financial attitude, and FL. Also, the impact of male villagers’ FL on their financial attitude is more significant than FS. This study provides a major theoretical contribution to the literature, being the first to examine the antecedents of male villagers’ FWB worldwide empirically. Also, this study offers important implications for the government, financial institutions, and financial advisors.