Direkt zum Inhalt

A Pecuniary Explanation for the Heterogeneous Effects of Unemployment on Happiness

Referierte Aufsätze Web of Science

Jianbo Luo

In: Journal of Happiness Studies 21 (2020), 7, 2603-2628

Abstract

Why unemployment has heterogeneous effects on subjective well-being remains a hot topic. Using German Socio-Economic Panel data, this paper finds significant heterogeneity using different material deprivation measures. Unemployed individuals who do not suffer from material deprivation may not experience a life satisfaction decrease and may even experience a life satisfaction increase. Policy implications for taxation and unemployment insurance are discussed.

Several studies show that people with migration background (even such with German nationality) are less politically engaged than the autochthonous population. The differences between migrants and the autochthonous population do not disappear completely even after controlling for important variables such as socio-structural and demographic variables. The present article examines whether and to what extent the "migration"-gap can be closed if features of legal, cultural and social integration as well as emotional aspects (such as experiences of rejection and indicators of identification) and important resources and socio-demographic variables are added. Our results show, on one hand, that the "migration-gap" is reduced partially by the examined variables but cannot fully be explained. On the other hand, it turns out, that both, experiences of rejection and dual identification with the origin as well as host society, are associated with greater political engagement. Notably, there are some significant differences between the countries of origin.



Keywords: Unemployment; Subjective well-being; Heterogeneity; Material deprivation; Minimum required income
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00198-4

keyboard_arrow_up