Parental Unemployment and Children’s Wellbeing – the Moderating Role of Educational Policies.

Anna Baranowska-Rataj , Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research, Umeå University
Björn Högberg , CEDAR, Umea University
Laura Bernardi, University of Lausanne

Crossover effects of parental unemployment on wellbeing of children attract a growing attention in research on social inequalities, which calls for identifying policies that mitigate such adverse effects. Building on the theoretical insights from Capability Approach, we examine how parental unemployment affects wellbeing of adolescent children across countries with different educational policies. We use multilevel modelling and microdata on economic and subjective wellbeing of household members from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). We combine microdata on 45,992 adolescents in 32 countries with macro-level indicators of educational policies. We find that parental unemployment is associated with lower adolescent wellbeing, but the magnitude of this association varies depending on access to financial support for participation in education. Adolescents who receive education-related allowances and who live in countries with broader access to such support are less harmed by parental unemployment.

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 Presented in Session 9. Policy Issues