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Gender, added-worker effects, and the 2007–2009 recession: Looking within the household

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  • Martha Starr

    ()

Abstract

The U.S. recession of 2007–2009 saw unemployment rates for men rise by significantly more than those for women, resulting in the downturn’s characterization as a ‘mancession’. This paper uses data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reexamine gender-related dimensions of the 2007–2009 recession. Unlike most previous work, we analyze data that connects men’s and women’s employment status to that of their spouses. A difference-in-difference framework is used to characterize how labor-market outcomes for one spouse varied according to outcomes for the other. Results show that that employment rates of women whose husbands were non-employed rose significantly in the recession, while those for people in other situations held steady or fell—consistent with the view that women took on additional bread-winning responsibilities to make up for lost income. However, probabilities of non-participation did not rise by more for men with working wives than they did for other men, casting doubt on ideas that men in this situation made weaker efforts to return to work because they could count on their wives’ paychecks to support the household. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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Article provided by Springer in its journal Review of Economics of the Household.

Volume (Year): 12 (2014)
Issue (Month): 2 (June)
Pages: 209-235

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Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:12:y:2014:i:2:p:209-235
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=109451

Keywords: Recession; Gender; American Community Survey; Added-worker effect; D13; E32; J22; J12;

Find related papers by JEL classification:

  • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
  • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
  • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
  • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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  2. Munch, Jakob Roland & Rosholm, Michael & Svarer, Michael, . "Are Home Owners Really More Unemployed?," Economics Working Papers 2003-15, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus.
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  29. repec:dgr:kubcen:201099 is not listed on IDEAS
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Cited by:

  1. Mary Eschelbach Hansen & Julie Routzahn, 2014. "Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Debt and Financial Position: The Impact of the Great Recession," Working Papers 2014-10, American University, Department of Economics.

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