Umeå Economic Studies, Department of Economics, Umeå University
No 708:
The Phase-Out of the Nuclear Family? Empirical Studies on the Economics and Structure of Modern Swedish Families.
Magdalena Norberg-Schönfeldt ()
Abstract: This thesis consists of three papers on the economics and
structure of Swedish families. Paper [I] examines the determinants of
children’s educational achievement in Sweden. Special attention is given to
the labour market work by mothers and fathers in terms of its influence on
the educational outcome of their children, measured as grade point average
(GPA) in compulsory as well as upper sec-ondary school. The results show
that there is a positive relationship between parental income and GPA.
Regarding the number of hours worked in the la-bour market, the results
differ between mothers and fathers. Having a mother that works less than
full time has positive effects on the child’s grades throughout the
schooling of the child, whereas significant effects of the hours of work
that the father puts in are found during upper secondary school only. Paper
[II] explores the role of financial surprises and match quality in the
dis-solution of relationships. The analysis is carried out both for
surprises in the short term earnings and surprises in the long-run earnings
capacity. It is found that positive surprises in short term earnings have a
destabilizing effect for a relationship. Generally, a negative surprise in
long-run earnings capacity for males has a destabilizing effect. However,
if it is combined with a female positive surprise, the effect is
stabilizing. Commitments become more stable the older the spouses are at
the start, and if young children are present. Paper [III] studies the role
of unemployment in the dissolu¬tion of relationships by applying a two-step
estimation method to an extensive data set, which con-tains information
about young Swedish males and females. Unemployment is recognized as
endogenous in the separation decision, and the results show that the effect
of unemploy¬ment on separation is biased when unemployment is assumed to be
exo¬genous in the separation equation. The probability of sepa-ration is
found to be increasing with male unemployment, while female un-employment
decreases the probability of dissolution.
Keywords: Time allocation; labour-force participation; educational achievements; match quality; financial surprises; unemployment; divorce; family structure; (follow links to similar papers)
JEL-Codes: D10; I20; J12; J22; (follow links to similar papers)
126 pages, May 16, 2007
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