The Economic Consequences of Being Widowed by War: A Life-Cycle Perspective

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Braun, Sebastian T., Stuhler, Jan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Braun, Sebastian T.
Stuhler, Jan
author_facet Braun, Sebastian T.
Stuhler, Jan
contents Despite millions of war widows worldwide, little is known about the economic consequences of being widowed by war. We use life history data from West Germany to show that war widowhood increased women's employment immediately after World War II but led to lower employment rates later in life. War widows, therefore, carried a double burden of employment and childcare while their children were young but left the workforce when their children reached adulthood. We show that the design of compensation policies likely explains this counterintuitive life-cycle pattern and examine potential spillovers to the next generation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_15439
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Economic Consequences of Being Widowed by War: A Life-Cycle Perspective
Braun, Sebastian T.
Stuhler, Jan
General Economics
Economics
Despite millions of war widows worldwide, little is known about the economic consequences of being widowed by war. We use life history data from West Germany to show that war widowhood increased women's employment immediately after World War II but led to lower employment rates later in life. War widows, therefore, carried a double burden of employment and childcare while their children were young but left the workforce when their children reached adulthood. We show that the design of compensation policies likely explains this counterintuitive life-cycle pattern and examine potential spillovers to the next generation.
title The Economic Consequences of Being Widowed by War: A Life-Cycle Perspective
topic General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.15439