IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lis/liswps/707.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labour Income, Social Transfers and Child Poverty

Author

Listed:
  • Bruce Bradbury
  • Markus J ntti
  • Lena Lindahl

Abstract

This paper documents the variation in living standards of the poorest fifth of children in rich (and some middle-income) nations, with a focus on the relative importance and interaction of social transfers (net of taxes) and labour market incomes. Overall, the cross-national variation in the disposable income of disadvantaged children is comprised equally of variation in market and transfer income (with the two negatively correlated). The English-speaking countries stand out as all having relatively low market incomes, but substantial variation in transfer income. Their low market incomes reflect low employment hours in Australia and primarily low hours in the UK and Ireland, while in the US and Canada low hours and low pay contribute equally. Comparing incomes prior to and after the 2008 financial crisis, the real disposable incomes of the poorest fifth decreased substantially in Spain and in Ireland, but were relatively stable in other rich nations.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruce Bradbury & Markus J ntti & Lena Lindahl, 2018. "Labour Income, Social Transfers and Child Poverty," LIS Working papers 707, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lis:liswps:707
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.lisdatacenter.org/wps/liswps/707.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. DiNardo, John & Fortin, Nicole M & Lemieux, Thomas, 1996. "Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1001-1044, September.
    2. Wen-Hao Chen & Miles Corak, 2008. "Child poverty and changes in child poverty," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(3), pages 537-553, August.
    3. Miles Corak & Christine Lietz & Holly Sutherland, 2005. "The Impact of Tax and Transfer Systems on Children in the European Union," Papers inwopa05/30, Innocenti Working Papers.
    4. Anders Björklund & Markus Jäntti & John Roemer, 2012. "Equality of opportunity and the distribution of long-run income in Sweden," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 39(2), pages 675-696, July.
    5. Carina Mood & Jan O. Jonsson, 2016. "Trends in Child Poverty in Sweden: Parental and Child Reports," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(3), pages 825-854, September.
    6. Yekaterina Chzhen, 2014. "Child Poverty and Material Deprivation in the European Union during the Great Recession," Papers inwopa723, Innocenti Working Papers.
    7. Gornick, Janet C. & Jäntti, Markus, 2012. "Child poverty in cross-national perspective: Lessons from the Luxembourg Income Study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 558-568.
    8. Jared Bernstein & Heidi Shierholz, 2014. "The Minimum Wage: A Crucial Labor Standard That Is Well Targeted To Low‐ And Moderate‐Income Households," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 1036-1043, September.
    9. Joakim Palme & Walter Korpi, 1998. "The Paradox of Redistribution and Strategies of Equality: Welfare State Institutions, Inequality and Poverty in the Western Countries," LIS Working papers 174, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    10. Marianne Bitler & Hilary Hoynes & Elira Kuka, 2014. "Child Poverty and the Great Recession in the United States," Papers inwopa724, Innocenti Working Papers.
    11. Joseph J. Sabia, 2014. "Minimum Wages: An Antiquated And Ineffective Antipoverty Tool," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 1028-1036, September.
    12. David Grubb & Shruti Singh & Peter Tergeist, 2009. "Activation Policies in Ireland," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 75, OECD Publishing.
    13. Peter Whiteford & Willem Adema, 2007. "What Works Best in Reducing Child Poverty: A Benefit or Work Strategy?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 51, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amie Bostic, 2023. "Family, Work, Economy, or Social Policy: Examining Poverty Among Children of Single Mothers in Affluent Democracies Between 1985 and 2016," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-57, August.
    2. Piotr Paradowski & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz & Eva Sierminska, 2020. "Inequality, Poverty and Child Benefits: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," LIS Working papers 799, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

    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. Elena Bárcena-Martín & M. Carmen Blanco-Arana & Salvador Pérez-Moreno, 2017. "Dynamics of child poverty in the European countries," Working Papers 437, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    2. Elena Bárcena-Martín & Maria del Carmern & Salvador Perez-Moreno, 2015. "Assessing the impact of social transfer income packages on child poverty. A European cross-national perspective," ThE Papers 15/02, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    3. Camilla Härtull & Jan Saarela, 2019. "Ethno-Linguistic Affiliation and Income Poverty in Native Households with Children: Finland 1987–2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 403-424, July.
    4. Piotr Paradowski & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz & Eva Sierminska, 2020. "Inequality, Poverty and Child Benefits: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," LIS Working papers 799, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    5. Elena Bárcena-Martín & M. Carmen Blanco-Arana & Salvador Pérez-Moreno, 2016. "Assessing the impact of social transfer income packages on child poverty in European countries: Pro-child targeting vs pro-poor targeting," Working Papers 410, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    6. Tess Penne & Tine Hufkens & Tim Goedeme & Berenice M L Storms, 2018. "To what extent do welfare states compensate for the cost of children? A hypothetical household approach to policy evaluations," JRC Working Papers on Taxation & Structural Reforms 2018-08, Joint Research Centre.
    7. Bruch, Sarah K. & van der Naald, Joseph & Gornick, Janet C., 2022. "Poverty Reduction through Federal and State Policy Mechanisms: Variation Over Time and Across the U.S. States," SocArXiv jz5xp, Center for Open Science.
    8. Cristiano Perugini & Gaetano Martino, 2008. "Income Inequality Within European Regions: Determinants And Effects On Growth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 54(3), pages 373-406, September.
    9. Malte Luebker, 2019. "Can the Structure of Inequality Explain Fiscal Redistribution? Revisiting the Social Affinity Hypothesis," LIS Working papers 762, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    10. Bartels, Charlotte & Neumann, Dirk, 2021. "Redistribution and Insurance in Welfare States around the World," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 123(4), pages 1116-1158.
    11. Pim Verbunt & Anne-Catherine Guio, 2019. "Explaining Differences Within and Between Countries in the Risk of Income Poverty and Severe Material Deprivation: Comparing Single and Multilevel Analyses," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 827-868, July.
    12. David Rothwell & Timothy Ottusch & Jennifer K. Finders, 2018. "Asset Poverty Among Children: A Cross-national Study of Poverty Risk," LWS Working papers 29, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    13. Marisa Hidalgo-Hidalgo, 2019. "Childhood-Related Policies and Adult Poverty: Evidence from Some European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 191-217, July.
    14. Miles Corak & *UNICEF, 2005. "Principles and Practicalities in Measuring Child Poverty for the Rich Countries," Papers inwopa05/27, Innocenti Working Papers.
    15. Garrow, Eve E. & Danziger, Sandra K. & Tillotson, Amanda R., 2015. "Shifting sands that threaten policy advocacy for vulnerable children and youth: A case study," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 211-218.
    16. Sotomayor, Orlando J., 2021. "Can the minimum wage reduce poverty and inequality in the developing world? Evidence from Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Rothwell, David W. & Ottusch, Timothy & Finders, Jennifer K., 2019. "Asset poverty among children: A cross-national study of poverty risk," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 409-419.
    18. Janet Gornick & Emily Nell, 2017. "Children, Poverty, and Public Policy: A Cross-National Perspective," LIS Working papers 701, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    19. Mechelen, N. (Natascha) van & Bradshaw, J. (Jonathan), 2012. "GINI DP 50: Child Poverty as a Government Priority: Child Benefit Packages for Working Families, 1992-2009," GINI Discussion Papers 50, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    20. Marx, Ive & Nolan, Brian & Olivera, Javier, 2014. "The Welfare State and Anti-Poverty Policy in Rich Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 8154, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    poverty; social transfers; wages; cross-national comparisons; LIS database;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

    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:lis:liswps:707. 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: Piotr Paradowski (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lisprlu.html .

    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.