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Is Childcare Bad for the Mental Health of Grandparents? Evidence from SHARE

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  • Brunello, Giorgio

    (University of Padova)

  • Rocco, Lorenzo

    (University of Padova)

Abstract

We estimate the causal effects of regular and occasional grandchild care on the depression of grandmothers and grandfathers, using data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and an instrumental variables strategy which exploits the variation in the timing of interviews across individuals and the fact that childcare declines with the age of grandchildren. We find that 10 additional hours of childcare per month, a 31 percent increase with respect to the sample average, increases the probability of developing depressive symptoms by 3.0 to 3.2 percentage points for grandmothers and by 5.4 to 5.9 percentage points for grandfathers. These results suggest that policies that substitute informal with formal childcare can improve the mental wellbeing of grandparents.

Suggested Citation

  • Brunello, Giorgio & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2016. "Is Childcare Bad for the Mental Health of Grandparents? Evidence from SHARE," IZA Discussion Papers 10022, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10022
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniela Del Boca, 2002. "The effect of child care and part time opportunities on participation and fertility decisions in Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(3), pages 549-573.
    2. Rupert, Peter & Zanella, Giulio, 2018. "Grandchildren and their grandparents' labor supply," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 89-103.
    3. Li-Jung Ku & Sally Stearns & Courtney Houtven & George Holmes, 2012. "The health effects of caregiving by grandparents in Taiwan: an instrumental variable estimation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 521-540, December.
    4. Havnes, Tarjei & Mogstad, Magne, 2011. "Money for nothing? Universal child care and maternal employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1455-1465.
    5. Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2011. "Life Satisfaction and Grandparenthood: Evidence from a Nationwide Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 5869, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Black, Dan A. & Joo, Joonhwi & LaLonde, Robert J. & Smith, Jeffrey A. & Taylor, Evan J., 2015. "Simple Tests for Selection Bias: Learning More from Instrumental Variables," IZA Discussion Papers 9346, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Blau, David & Currie, Janet, 2006. "Pre-School, Day Care, and After-School Care: Who's Minding the Kids?," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 20, pages 1163-1278, Elsevier.
    8. Gema Zamarro, 2011. "Family Labor Participation and Child Care Decisions The Role of Grannies," Working Papers 833, RAND Corporation.
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniela Boca & Daniela Piazzalunga & Chiara Pronzato, 2018. "The role of grandparenting in early childcare and child outcomes," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 477-512, June.
    2. Sor Tho Ng & Nai Peng Tey & M Niaz Asadullah, 2017. "What matters for life satisfaction among the oldest-old? Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Danielsbacka, Mirkka & Tanskanen, Antti O. & Coall, David A. & Jokela, Markus, 2019. "Grandparental childcare, health and well-being in Europe: A within-individual investigation of longitudinal data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 194-203.
    4. Ates, Merih, 2017. "Does grandchild care influence grandparents’ self-rated health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 67-74.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    depression; grandparents; childcare; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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