In this paper we document trends in inequality in earnings and disposable household income for men and women in Germany from 2001 to 2019. We find that males at the lower half of the earnings distribution have lower earnings in 2019 than in 2001. In contrast, female earnings have increased throughout the distribution. Households and the welfare state has cushioned much---but not all---of the...
Typically, poverty risk is assessed at the household level, neglecting within-couple income inequality and the role of individual characteristics in vulnerability to income poverty. This paper uses SOEP data and a quasi-experimental event study design to investigate poverty dynamics within couples over an 8-year period around the first birth. It follows partnered women (N=1,174) and men (N=1,137)...
This paper analyses the impact of the modernization of the Swiss marital law in the 1980s on married women's labour force participation in Switzerland. The reform of the law comprised multiple measures to foster the equality between husband and wife within the marriage. The Swiss people voted on the reform in a referendum in 1985, accepting the new marital law. Hence at the time of the vote, it...
We examine the association between cohabitation and women’s and men’s wealth, closely considering the distinct regulatory and normative contexts in France and Eastern and Western Germany. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio- Economic Panel Study (2002–2017) and the French wealth survey Histoire de Vie et Patrimoine (2014/15-2020/21), we apply fixed-effects regression models to examine potential ...
This field experiment investigates the causal impact of mothers’ perceptions of gender norms on their employment attitudes and labor-supply expectations. We provide mothers of young children in Germany with information about the prevailing gender norm regarding maternal employment in their city. At baseline, over 70% of mothers incorrectly perceive this gender norm as too conservative. Our randomized ...
Men at the bottom quintile of the German male earnings distribution had lower average earnings in 2019 than in 2001. In contrast, female earnings have increased throughout the distribution. What explains these diverging trends and how did they translate into changes in net income? Data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) reveal that the drop in bottom male earnings is mostly due to a decrease in work ...
LSBT*-Personen unterscheiden sich häufig in gelebten Familien- und Partnerschaftskonzepten von der heteronormativen Idealvorstellung und weisen womöglich deshalb bedeutsame Differenzen in Bildungsabschlüssen, Löhnen und beruflichen Status verglichen zur heterosexuellen Cisbevölkerung auf. Mithilfe der gezielten Aufstockungsstichprobe von LSBT*-Personen des SOEP und der Onlinebefragung LGBielefeld analysiert ...
Many couples face a trade-off between advancing one spouse’s career or the other’s. We study this trade-off using administrative data from Germany and Sweden. We first conduct an event-study analysis of couples moving across commuting zones and find that relocation increases men’s earnings more than women’s, with strikingly similar patterns in Germany and Sweden. Using a sample of mass layoff...
This study examines how student aid eligibility influences application decisions to higher education using administrative data from France. We study the impact of a change in income thresholds for aid eligibility. We find that aid eligibility did not have a uniform effect on students’ applications but varied by gender and academic performance. Highperforming male students shifted their First-Ranked ...