Intergenerational scars? The long-term effects of parental unemployment during a depression

Authors

  • Aleksi Karhula University of Turku
  • Hannu Lehti University of Turku
  • Jani Erola University of Turku

Keywords:

parental unemployment, unemployment, recession, depression, propensity score, matching

Abstract

We studied the intergenerational impact of parental unemployment on the socioeconomic status of children. We used data from the Finnish depression of the 1990s, one of the deepest depressions in the history of OECD countries. We compared the impact of parental unemployment of children aged 12-18 during both a period of economic growth and a period of depression. We used ISEI status to measure social status when the children reached the age of 30. We used propensity score matching to analyse the high-quality Finnish register data, comprising 15991 children. Our results show a negative association between parental unemployment and children’s later socioeconomic status that is not significantly lower when parental unemployment occurs during a depression. The association is partially driven by the duration of unemployment during the depression. Our results underline the importance of providing support to families that experience parental unemployment during eras of both depression and growth.

Section
Articles: Intergenerational inequalities

Published

2017-12-15

How to Cite

Karhula, A., Lehti, H., & Erola, J. (2017). Intergenerational scars? The long-term effects of parental unemployment during a depression. Finnish Journal of Social Research, 10(1), 87–99. https://doi.org/10.51815/fjsr.110768