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The long-term effect of childhood poverty

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  • Rune V. Lesner

    (Aarhus University)

Abstract

This paper uses variation among siblings to identify the consequences of childhood poverty on both labour and marriage market outcomes. In the labour market, individuals who experienced childhood poverty are found to have lower earnings and lower labour market attachment and to have worse jobs both vertically in terms of low-paying industries and horizontally in terms of job positions. In the marriage market, childhood poverty is found to have negative consequences for the probability of marriage, cohabitation, and having children around the age of 30. The effect sizes are found to exhibit an inverse u-shape in the age of the child, peaking during adolescence. Results on educational choices suggest that the mechanisms behind these results can be that childhood poverty affects the skill formation, networks, and decision making of the child.

Suggested Citation

  • Rune V. Lesner, 2018. "The long-term effect of childhood poverty," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 969-1004, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:31:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-017-0674-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-017-0674-8
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hayoung Choi & Boyoung Nam, 2023. "Gender Disparities in Childhood Poverty and Employment Quality among Young Adult Workers in South Korea," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 1167-1188, June.
    3. Ana Maria Nicoriciu & Mark Elliot, 2023. "Families of children with disabilities: income poverty, material deprivation, and unpaid care in the UK," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Kate Sollis & Ben Edwards, 2022. "Measuring What Matters: Drawing on a Participatory Wellbeing Framework and Existing Data to Assess Child Wellbeing Outcomes Over Time," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 543-599, November.
    5. Micheál L. Collins, 2022. "Revealing a Hidden Cost: determining the public service cost of poverty in Ireland," Working Papers 202205, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    6. Holm, Mathilde Lund & Fallesen, Peter & Heinesen, Eskil, 2023. "The effects of parental union dissolution on children’s test scores," SocArXiv p2qgk, Center for Open Science.
    7. Christian T. Elbaek & Ifeatu Uzodinma & Zilia Ismagilova & Panagiotis Mitkidis, 2022. "Suppetia ex machina: How can AI technologies aid financial decision-making of people with low socioeconomic status?," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 6(S1), pages 49-57, July.
    8. Mao, Likun & Normand, Charles, 2022. "The effect of volunteering on employment: Evidence from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    9. Maître, Bertrand & Curristan, Sarah & Russell, Sarah, 2022. "Intergenerational poverty in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS150.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty; Child development; Family background; Siblings; Intergenerational mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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