Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Does Parental Unemployment Affect the Quality of their Children’s First Job?

In this paper the relationship between parental unemployment at time of children's labor market entrance on the quality of their children's first job is analyzed. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1991-2012 the quality of the first job in terms of wage, permanent position and full-time employment is examined. The results show a negative correlation between ...

Does moving for family nest-building inhibit mothers' labour force (re-)entry?

BACKGROUND: Couples tend to move house around first childbirth and often into suburban or rural neighbourhoods, conforming to the normative belief that children should grow up in a ‘proper family home.’ Such moves are likely to increase housing costs and both partners might need to contribute to the household income. But the move might also necessitate long commutes, inhibiting mothers’ labour force ...

Do Spa Visits Improve Health: Evidence From German Microdata

The health benefits of spas have been hypothesized for centuries. If this hypothesis is correct, spa therapy offers a low cost alternative to more expensive and potentially more invasive medical treatments for ailments such as back pain and arthritis. We use individual-level panel data to isolate the effect of spa therapy on missed work days and hospital visits in Germany. Simple correlations suggest ...

Follow-up study regarding the medium-term effectiveness of the home-visiting program “Pro Kind” at age 7 years: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Pro Kind is a German adaptation of the US Nurse Family Partnership program. It is an intervention based on home visits targeting first-time mothers from disadvantaged populations. Pro Kind was implemented as a randomized control trial from 2006 to 2012 with N = 755 first-time mothers (TG n = 394, CG n = 391). The 7–8-year follow-up aims to assess the mid-term effects of the program.

Labor Force Status Dynamics in the German Labor Market - Individual Heterogeneity and Cyclical Sensitivity

The aggregate average unemployment rate in a given country is essentially the result of individual workers' transitions between the three core labor force states, employment, unemployment, and inactivity. The dynamics of these transitions depend both, on individual duration in a particular state and the transition probabilities between states. Individual transitions, in turn, depend on observable ...

Low-wage Jobs — Springboard to High-paid Ones?

We examine whether low-paid jobs have an effect on the probability that unemployed persons obtain better-paid jobs in the future (springboard effect). We make use of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and apply a dynamic random effects bivariate probit model. Our results suggest that low-wage jobs can act as springboards to better-paid work. The improvement of the chance to obtain a high-wage ...

Minimum Wages and their Alternatives: A Critical Assessment

Income, happiness, and the disutility of labour

We re-examine the claim that the income effect on happiness is downward biased because higher income demands more work effort. We find no evidence of an underestimation because the impact of working hours on happiness is rather small and hill-shaped.

Quantifying the psychological costs of unemployment: the role of permanent income

Unemployment causes significant losses in the quality of life. In addition to reducing individual income, it also creates nonpecuniary and psychological costs. We quantify these nonpecuniary losses by using the life satisfaction approach. In contrast to previous studies, we apply Friedman's (1957) permanent income hypothesis by distinguishing between temporary and permanent effects of income changes. ...

Scarring or Scaring? The Psychological Impact of Past Unemployment and Future Unemployment Risk

We reassess the ‘scarring’ hypothesis which states that unemployment experienced in the past reduces a person's current life satisfaction even after the person has become reemployed. Our results suggest that the scar from past unemployment operates via worsened expectations of becoming unemployed in the future, and that it is future insecurity that makes people unhappy. Hence the terminology should ...