Journal of Family and Economic Issues

Using data from the 2019 Small Business Values Survey (SBVS), we investigated differences between copreneur (n = 195) and noncopreneur (n = 303) small business owners in the United States. Specifically, we looked at differences in work-family balance characteristics, business characteristics, and owner characteristics between copreneur and noncopreneur small business owners. We found that copreneurs were significantly more likely than noncopreneurs to report conflicts about decisions related to their work and family lives, and were also more likely to report negative work-to-family spillover and negative family-to-work spillover. However, using a logistic regression, we found that copreneurs were more likely than noncopreneurs to report perceiving the business as successful and profitable. Looking at a subsample of only copreneurs, we found that various work-family balance characteristics, business characteristics, and owner characteristics were significantly associated with the likelihood of perceiving the business as successful or profitable.

Ill-being and mental ill-health have been on the rise in both Europe and the United States, especially among middle-aged and older adults. Although financial security has been shown to play a protective role in emotional well-being, little is known about the protective role of different types of family assets on mental health and well-being. Using longitudinal survey data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) collected between 2004 and 2017, we examined the role of different types of family assets in emotional well-being and depression. A multivariate proportional hazard model with time-varying covariates was used. We found that family assets may play a significant protective role against depression , loneliness, and a decreased quality of life. Different forms of family assets may play diverse roles in protecting against the risks of ill-being and mental ill-health; however, their roles in increasing the chances of overcoming ill-being are less pronounced. Promotion of saving behaviours and proper financial management can help protect against adverse well-being and health outcomes in middle-aged and older adults.

In 2021, the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board expanded its Principal Knowledge Topics to include the domain Psychology of Financial Planning. This inclusion serves as an impetus for CFP Board Registered Programs to provide opportunities for students to explore their own attitudes and biases about money. However, little is written on how programs can aid students in this process of self-exploration. This paper introduces an experiential exercise to aid financial planning students in self-exploration. Using a thematic analysis, several themes emerged: (1) diversity in parental financial socialization, (2) anxiety about personal finances, and (3) use of technical knowledge to help loved ones. Additionally, women reported more traumatic money experiences, and men reported higher levels of career confidence. Implications can provide insights on how educational programs can aid financial planning students’ understanding of their own money beliefs to better serve future clients in the client psychology competency areas.

The need to better understand the nature of work related to unpaid caregiving to older persons and its effect on the caregivers has become a pressing issue given the worldwide trend toward population aging. This study focuses on those who frequently provide this type of unpaid care in the US. Using pooled 2011–19 American Time Use Survey data for individuals aged 25–61-years old and a correlated system of regressions, we examine the gendered time allocation pattern of those who frequently provide care to older persons. We find that female caregivers spend less time on market work compared to male caregivers. Our results also suggest that frequent caregiving is associated with more time spent on domestic and care work and less time on market work and self-care. On days when they don’t perform or just do little care work, frequent caregivers tend to spend long hours performing market work and reduce their time on domestic chores, care work, and leisure. Sensitivity checks confirm these findings.

Research on work insecurity in the US has examined specific precarious work factors such as low wages, nonstandard work hours and scheduling, and inaccessibility to family supportive benefits. Using pilot data from The Prec[ar]ious Family Study, a latent class analysis indicates patterns of precarious work attributes into five disparate groups described as Wagers, Nomads, Underemployed, Schedulers, and Precariat. Regressions using patterned precarious work group membership as a categorical variable reveal differences in family resource accessibility and usage between those who report multiple precarious work factors (Precariat) and those who report a high amount of workplace uncertainty (Nomads) compared to workers with wage as their sole precarious factor (Wagers) after controlling for worker’s self-reported perceptions of stress. Precarious work group differences in family cohesion suggest workers’ decreased perceptions of family emotional connection in the Nomads groups compared to the Wagers. No association was found between workers’ perceptions of their family flexibility and their precarious work class membership which suggests existing family roles and family leadership are resistant to experiences of work precarity. Further research of precariously employed workers is needed to assess the dynamism of precarious work group patterns and extend understanding between precarious work, family-level resources and family cohesion amid experiences of work precarity.

In this paper, we assess the scale of indebtedness of households with children and investigate the impact of having children on the likelihood of falling into excessive debt. Using the unique dataset on indebted households in Poland, we employ two indicators to identify over-indebtedness: debt service-to-income ratio (DSTI) and subjective debt burden (SB). Applying two different debt measures allows encompassing both the economic and psychological dimensions of debt burden. In addition, we divide households into two groups: young (with a reference person aged under 35) and middle-aged and older adults (aged 35+). We find that the number of children increases the monthly debt repayments and reduces the likelihood of over-indebtedness, both according to DSTI and SB, for middle-aged and older adult households. There is no evidence for the influence of children on the over-indebtedness of young families. Our results suggest that for this age group of households, the other variables related to their economic situation and debt structures may explain the likelihood of over-indebtedness better than the presence of children.

While older adults remain a population of interest when considering financial well-being, the experiences of racialized older immigrants remain scarce. In fact, the existing literature has a propensity to keep age, race, and ethnicity as separate categories rather consider their interconnections. Addressing this paucity of research is especially urgent given recent reports that highlight the emerging experiences of poverty among older adults living in Canadian urban centers such as Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Analyzing data from a focus group with service providers in the city of Calgary, Alberta, this article identifies the barriers to financial well-being among racialized older immigrants and newcomers. Themes center on the structural barriers related to the ten-year and twenty-year dependency period, and experiences of structured dependency within intergenerational family units. This article also offers recommendations for policymakers and service organizations in strengthening the financial well-being of racialized older immigrants.

Recent studies have highlighted persistent differentials in income pooling (whether couples combine their earnings or keep their money separate) between married and cohabiting couples. The theories guiding research on income pooling suggest that couples pool their incomes for a variety of reasons, including increasing interdependence and growing commitment, but it is also likely that couples pool their incomes to pay for intra-household needs and avoid financial difficulties and material hardship. Using the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (N = 517), we examined the associations between income pooling and measures of commitment and material hardship among married and cohabiting young adults (ages 22–29). Results show that increasing levels of commitment were associated with higher odds of completely income pooling, regardless of union status. Further, the odds of complete income pooling rose with increasing material hardship. However, the married-cohabiting gap in income pooling persisted after controlling for demographic factors, employment characteristics, and relationship characteristics: married young adults had significantly higher odds of income pooling than cohabiting young adults. Standardized estimates reveal that, although there are significant differences in commitment and material hardship between married and cohabiting young adults, these compositional differences do not drive the married-cohabiting income pooling gap. Instead, there are differences in role of commitment and material hardship for these young couples. Overall, results suggest that income pooling behavior is both an indicator of commitment and a strategy to manage economic hardship among married and cohabiting young adults in the U.S. These findings provide new insights into how young adults may navigate commitment and financial concerns within their intimate relationships.

Financial well-being is becoming more prominent in policy, research, and the financial sector. However, there is a lack of understanding of its meaning, and the vast majority of financial well-being research employs quantitative methods whereas recent literature reviews advocate for qualitative studies into the meaning of financial well-being and its associations with age. We contribute to that by conducting exploratory qualitative research into the phenomenon of perceived financial well-being and its components. It is based on three studies each of which used in-depth semi-structured interviews (N = 47). The first key finding is that youth perceive financial well-being to be comprised of three components: keeping the current lifestyle and making ends meet; achieving desired lifestyle; and achieving financial freedom. In contrast, older groups distinguish only two: keeping and achieving the lifestyle in the present and in the future. The second finding is that the definition of financial freedom differs across age groups. Young people aspire to become financially independent, while middle-aged individuals prioritize supporting their children, and older people are afraid of becoming a financial burden. Third, regardless of age, many do not plan, save or invest for securing their financial well-being. We conclude by proposing implications for increasing financial well-being in different age groups, and suggesting paths for further investigation.

We examine how expenditure changes at retirement during an institutionally and economically uncertain period when a series of pension reforms and cuts were implemented. Overall, we fail to confirm that consumption declines at retirement using data from Greece (2008–2018). Any estimated declines come from turbulent years when major pension cuts were applied. Expenditure drops at retirement were due to pension income shocks, especially for those who were particularly dependent on pension income. Further checks support the presence of an income shock mechanism for retirees who are relatively more treated during the crisis sub-period. Given an aging population and the ongoing global turbulence, our results offer valuable insights.

We investigate whether technical efficiency is affected by family involvement in management, considering a sample of small and medium sized firms (SMEs) operating in the traditional manufacturing sector. A positive and significant relationship between family management and efficiency is found when adopting one-step procedures based on Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Furthermore, according to our results, local social capital seems to moderate the influence of the family involvement on the performance of firms, corroborating the idea that trust and reputational assets associated with family ties can compensate for the lack of cooperative behaviour and social networks characterizing some communities where firms operate.

Using labor force survey (LFS) data collected before and during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the Philippines, we showed that hard lockdowns had a larger negative impact on the employment of women who had minor children compared to women who did not have minor children. Among Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines was among the hardest-hit by the pandemic, in terms of both the number of infected and its economic toll. The large economic toll was partly attributable to the extreme and militarized lockdown imposed at the onset of the pandemic in the country’s three most populous and economically-important regions, namely Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon. Using difference-in-differences analysis on pooled LFS data, we showed that female household heads or spouses with children were significantly less likely to have paid employment during the hard lockdown compared to female household heads or spouses without children, even after controlling for important covariates. Among women with children, the employment losses were larger for women with two or more children, suggesting a lockdown-induced parenthood penalty for women in the labor market. This was due in part to the increased care responsibilities disproportionately shouldered by mothers during hard lockdowns, given that children were forced to be at home and do distance learning.

While there is growing empirical attention to the factors affecting the use of Alternative Financial Services (AFS), outcomes of use of AFS are not fully understood. We examined the relationship between AFS use and financial anxiety, with a role of financial knowledge on the association. Using the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, AFS use was measured in three different ways as follows: (1) A binary indicator whether respondents had used at least one of AFS products, (2) the number of different AFS types used, and (3) binary indicators of uses of five different types of AFS. Financial anxiety measure was constructed based on three questions regarding worry, anxious and stressed about personal finance. Regression results demonstrated that AFS use was associated with higher level of financial anxiety while financial knowledge was negatively associated with financial anxiety. Further, results indicated positive interactions between financial knowledge and AFS use, which implies that financial knowledge may increase financial anxiety among AFS users. Considering the interaction and direct effects of financial knowledge on financial anxiety, financial knowledge has a negative effect on anxiety for non-AFS users but little to no effect on anxiety for AFS users. Findings of this study have implications for consumer professionals who work with AFS users.

Using a sample of 18,201 observations of working age respondents drawn from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 1996–2018, this research examined the labor supply effects for younger family members of living with older persons needing assistance with activities of daily living. We report the effects for three labor supply outcomes of younger family members: working hours, full-time work, and occupational flexibility of working hours. Our results indicate that living with an older family member needing assistance significantly reduced younger women’s working hours and the probability of working full-time among younger women, but increased both of these labor outcomes among younger men. In addition, living with an older family member needing help led younger women to work in occupations with significantly larger average variances in working hours. This suggests that these women occupied positions that allowed greater flexibility of working hours. We found little effect on flexibility of working hours for younger men. We conclude that the need for assistance among older family members has important effects on the labor market outcomes of younger family members.

While many researchers suggest that relational conflict has adverse performance effects in family firms, the exact mechanisms through which conflict harms performance are rarely empirically investigated. This paper explores the role of family social capital in the relationship between relational conflict and family firm performance. We hypothesize that the negative relationship between relational conflict and family firm performance is partially mediated by family social capital, while family ownership moderates the relationship between relational conflict and family social capital. In a sample of 175 U.S.-based small and medium-sized family firms recruited through Prolific Academic, we find that relational conflict harms firm performance indirectly through the erosion of family social capital. However, no evidence of a direct negative effect of relational conflict on performance is found. Our results also indicate that the negative relationship between relational conflict and family social capital is intensified by family ownership. We discuss the implications and contributions and present relevant directions for future research.

Family businesses (FBs) are a particular type of organization where both family and business dimensions intertwine. In FB literature, family firms have been studied both from a personal and an organizational point of view. In this paper, we present a new psychological approach aimed at capturing intergenerational and gender-matching differences in 67 generational pairs of entrepreneurs from Italian family firms based on 16 implicit theories. These 16 implicit theories are grouped into three psychological processes. Considering the differences across generations and between same- and cross-gender pairs of entrepreneurs, paired samples t-tests highlighted processes where FB entrepreneurs differ the most. Results from same- and cross-gender pairs analyses create a complex picture that applies when considering intergenerational differences that are a key to planning ad hoc consultations for families and their companies. Educators, researchers and consultants working with FBs may find this study interesting for two reasons. They would learn about the implicit theories that guide the attitudes, emotions, and behaviours of entrepreneurs and they could use this knowledge to work with different generations of entrepreneurs, including same- or mixed-gender pairs of seniors and juniors, during the succession process.

In this study, Korean time-use survey data for coupled households is analyzed to show that unpaid work time is endogenous in its relationship with paid work time because the views of traditional gender roles affect gender disparity in unpaid work time. The data not only includes time allocation between husbands and wives but also their views of traditional gender roles within their households, and this information can represent gendered social norms that can potentially explain the distribution of unpaid work between husbands and wives. The control function model is estimated to identify the tradeoff between unpaid work time and paid work time by solving the endogeneity problem. The results of this study show that wives’ unpaid work is likely to be affected by gendered social norms and that the effect can be larger for those having children. In addition, only in the case of wives, unpaid work time is found to be negatively associated with whether to work full-time, showing that wives’ burden of unpaid work could prevent them from working full time. The results indicate that it is crucial to recognize the need to change gendered social norms to address an asymmetric division of unpaid work between husbands and wives.

Based on panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1998 to 2018, we investigate the association between paternal childcare and parental economic well-being after separation in Germany. Referring to the post-separation year, we explore a sample of 176 separated couples with resident mothers and nonresident fathers, where fathers differ in their childcare involvement during weekdays. We propose equivalized annual net household income after exchange of alimony and child maintenance payments among the ex-partners as a novel indicator of parental economic well-being. Our study reveals the importance of considering both paid and received alimony, and child maintenance payments in analyzing post-separation economic well-being. Fathers’ childcare engagement during weekdays is not significantly associated with maternal post-separation income. Resident mothers take up the major or even full childcare burden. On the other hand, fathers with non-zero childcare hours manage to combine some paternal engagement with intensified employment. Mothers, however, fail to gain substantial ground on the labor market, which is unlikely to be due to differences in human capital, but rather due to persistently high maternal childcare involvement. We conclude that neither high levels of own resources, nor receiving help with childcare during the week shield resident mothers from economic deterioration after separation.

Economic hardship among divorced women—particularly mothers—is a longstanding policy concern. Most research in this area has causally examined women’s labor supply in relation to divorce or concentrated on post-divorce outcomes alone. Less attention has been paid to understanding mothers’ pre-divorce economic outcomes, although they have an important bearing on their post-divorce economic circumstances. The present study addresses this gap by using court records data on divorce cases linked to administrative employment records in Wisconsin to examine economic circumstances of married mothers with children at the time of filing the divorce petition, and how they evolve over three years leading up to it. The study introduces a new measure of economic vulnerability and carries out a descriptive analysis of mothers’ employment, earnings, and economic circumstances in the years preceding a divorce and compares them with the outcomes of fathers. Results show that despite significant increases in labor supply and earnings in the time leading up to divorce, mothers remain economically more vulnerable than fathers going into divorce, with over 44% of mothers (compared to 27% fathers) unable to support themselves and their children above the poverty line with their own earnings. Findings also suggest that mothers with younger children are worse off in terms of earnings and employment than mothers of older children although such differences are less pronounced for fathers. Implications for post-divorce cost-sharing of children, work, and safety net policies are discussed.

Basic financial services facilitate people’s ability to manage their finances, save, and receive payments from employers or the government. Drawing on survey data as well as qualitative interviews with 80 mothers with limited incomes, we find that parents take a pragmatic view and use a wide range of financial services to meet their needs including fintech, prepaid cards, and mobile phone-based solutions, as well as traditional banks. Mistrust in institutions is an important factor in shaping the services mothers avoid. Structural factors, like employers’ payment methods, also play a role in financial service use. These low-income parents of young children are actively using a range of financial services, much broader than those provided by traditional banks. Many mothers engaged in complex financial management practices to receive income and pay their bills. This opens room for potentially costly errors and is, at least, taxing their cognitive bandwidth. Researchers must attend to the diverse set of financial services with which parents engage and investigate how this affects families’ financial wellbeing and inclusion.

By adopting a dyadic extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), this study examined whether perceived economic uncertainty affects fertility intentions. Three-hundred thirty one heterosexual couples living in Italy participated in a randomized between-group experimental study, in which we manipulated perceived economic uncertainty (low vs. high vs. control). The participants subsequently completed a questionnaire measuring their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and fertility intentions. We employed Structural Equation Modelling in estimating the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. The model showed a good fit to the data. Women’s attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were influenced by the high economic uncertain scenario, whereas among men these variables were affected only by the positive economic scenario. Attitudes and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of fertility intentions for both sexes. Significant partner effects were observed as well. These findings suggest that fertility plans should be examined by adopting a dyadic perspective, as individuals’ intentions are affected not only by their own beliefs, but also by those of their partners.

Financial capability, the combination of financial literacy (ability to act) and financial access (opportunity to act), improves people’s access to resources, and thus has the potential to improve health and well-being. This paper positions financial capability under the framework of social determinants of health and discusses theory and presents empirical evidence on the link between financial capability and health. Using data from the RAND American Life Panel and the structural equation modeling approach, we distinguish financial capability from the common socioeconomic position indicators such as income and education. We find that financial capability has a positive and longitudinal effect on health, independent of race/ethnicity, gender, income, education, and employment. This study demonstrates that financial capability is an independent social determinant of health. It can be theoretically and conceptually defined, empirically measured, and can inform clinical interventions that may improve population health and well-being. Implications for future research, practice, and policy are discussed.

This article seeks to understand the economic system of Zimbabwe, driving its notion of humpty dumpty or seemingly chaotic economics from economic fundamentals such as inflation, dollarization, currency floating and governance. The researchers explore secondary data sources across the spectrum to scrutinize their viewpoint on humpty dumpty economics. Based on statistical trend analysis of inflation and the value of money in Zimbabwe the authors conclude that inflation is harmful to the economy, and the ordinary citizens should be the heart and soul of policy making. The authors further recommend that the Government of Zimbabwe should adopt nudge theory when implementing economic policies.

The papers in this issue emerged from a 2020 social work academic conference focused on financial capability and asset building (FCAB) research. This introduction provides an overview of the challenging financial and economic realities for U.S. families that provide the context for these papers. An outline of social work?s unique role with these families precedes a brief introduction to each included paper. ?Building on these papers, the authors provide an overview of future directions for FCAB research in the areas of theory and methods. Regarding theory, the FCAB field will benefit from the further exploration of the role of access and context for financial capability, as well as the use of institutional theory in FCAB practice and research. The role of relationships on financial behavior is also under-researched along with the intersection of FCAB with clinical issues and other human needs. Regarding methods, future research that uses qualitative and longitudinal data is also needed to advance FCAB knowledge. Overall, interdisciplinary work across social work and consumer finance to build models that span professional boundaries and incorporate FCAB into consumer financial wellbeing models will advance theory and evidence.

Despite the significant attention that financial capability has received in the last 20 years, many of its aspects are poorly understood, and the term itself is ambiguously defined. Consequently, different measures of financial capability are used in empirical research creating a tendency to let the data dictate the conceptualization of the financial capability itself. This creates concerns about the reliability of the general findings for countries in Eastern Europe such as Poland. Therefore, the following study is carried out to address these limitations and contribute to the advancement of the literature on financial capability, first, by extending the mainstream of the theoretical work on financial capability with the conceptual proposition framed within Sen’s Capability Approach; second, by proposing the measurement model of financial capability; and third, by using data from the Polish household panel study, Social Diagnosis (SD), to identify factors which predict a positive change in consumer’s financial capability over time. Across these three aims, we found that higher income was a key predictor and substantially improved financial capability in Poland. We also showed the strong and positive link between financial capability and all included psychological variables. Our findings also highlighted the differential impact of demographic variables on financial capability. The findings of this study yield implications for scholars who would like to analyze financial capability in transition or developing countries, but are constrained by limited financial resources to create their own database or have no access to national financial capability studies.

Understanding parental spending on children is crucial for making the right investments to positively influence child well-being and long-term social and economic outcomes. This study uses both quantitative household data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey round six (GLSS 6) and qualitative data based on focus group discussions to provide baseline information on how much couples spend on their children in various age brackets. Overall, the results show that older children attract higher expenditures than younger children. Household expenditures on children decrease with successive children, and non-poor couple-households spend almost twice as much as very poor couples. Furthermore, urban parents incur higher child expenditures than their rural counterparts. Finally, food and education account for the largest share of the expenditures on children.

During periods of economic instability, women may suffer uniquely from economic stress compared to men. We examine stress effects from financial debts by gender with monthly national-level household data starting in 2006, going through the Great Recession in the U.S and into the recovery period. We find that women on average in the sample exhibit approximately 30% overall greater debt stress scores than men after controlling for income, debt levels and other socioeconomic variables. Underlying factors for both genders are examined, including impacts on job performance, family life and health. Sources of disadvantage for women and implied policy needs are explored. Our findings and their consequences are examined relative to economic circumstances for women that have been documented as a result of the pandemic-induced recession.

Building on theory and research in financial capability, this study enhances a financial capability model by integrating psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) theory as part of the financial literacy component. Using PSS, a concept from workforce development literature, this study investigates the extent to which an empowerment-based PSS process in targeting financial goals is associated with financial literacy. Path analyses were conducted using a sample of 187 low-income individuals from a large social service agency in Chicago. Findings suggest that perceived financial barriers and financial hope—the two targets of PSS interventions—are associated with financial attitude and behavior, controlling for other demographic variables. These findings can guide policy makers and service providers to build in PSS process-based financial literacy components in vocational and adult education and training as a more human-centered approach to workforce development.

We examined the role of couples’ division of labor in the risk of union dissolution among parents of young children in Chile. We looked at whether specialization in the labor market and domestic work predicts union dissolution, and whether these associations differ by parents’ marital status and mother’s education. Using panel data from the Chilean Encuesta Longitudinal de Primera Infancia (ELPI) 2010 and 2012 waves, we found that specialization in the division of labor is associated with a lower probability of union dissolution among parents of young children in Chile. Unlike prior evidence for the US and the Netherlands, specialization is stabilizing for both married and cohabiting couples. However, there are differences by mother’s education. On the one hand, among mothers with high school education or less, specialization in the division of labor is associated with a lower probability of divorce and separation. On the other hand, among mothers with at least some college education, specialization has no advantage over equality in generating more union stability. Our findings shed light on how the interaction of couple’s division of labor and socioeconomic disadvantage may create unequal economic prospects for women and their children following union dissolution.

Research has shown that financial worries are key determinants of parents’ well-being. However, less is known about the relative role of income and financial worries on parents’ well-being; especially from a cross-cultural perspective. Guided by need and aspiration theories, we examined the roles of income and financial worries on happiness and distress among parents from Hong Kong (N = 258) and Bangkok (N = 190). Bayesian structural equation modelling revealed that greater income and lower financial worries were correlated, on a bivariate level, with higher levels of happiness and lower levels of distress in both societies. However, regressing happiness on both income and financial worries shows that income is uniquely associated with happiness in Bangkok, but not in Hong Kong. Financial worries uniquely explained variance in distress in both societies. These findings suggest that income and financial worries play different roles in parents’ psychological well-being in the two cities. To promote parents’ well-being, future policy or intervention programs should target financial worries in Hong Kong. Targeting income and financial worries are more likely to be efficacious in Bangkok.

The anticipated financial and health impacts of smoking exposure on children's malnutrition status have been a global concern. Albeit the emerging double burden of malnutrition along with the remarkably high prevalence of smokers in Indonesia, only a few studies have examined the impacts of parental smoking on children’s nutritional status. Using a balanced panel data of the Indonesia Family Life Survey, we analyze the extent of paternal smoking effects on the likelihood of stunting, thinness, and overweight in children. We employ a Probit Random Effect Model with Mundlak correction to eliminate the endogeneity issue of paternal smoking and estimate the impact of paternal smoking (smoking status and smoking intensity) on child malnutrition. The finding shows that a child whose father has moderate or high smoking intensity tends to have a higher probability of thinness and stunting by 2.93 and 3.47 percentage points, respectively. In contrast, the impact of a father's smoking intensity on a child's overweight status is not significant. This study also observes the nonsignificant effect of the father's smoking status on all child malnutrition status. Overall, exposure to paternal smoking increases children's risk of stunting and thinness. Key policies in tobacco control should be encouraged to reduce the potential long-term effects of paternal smoking on the country's future human capital and economic growth.

Using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, we examine the relationship between family decision-making power and women’s marital satisfaction. Interestingly, this paper reveals that overall, there is a negative association between women’s family decision-making power and marital satisfaction. However, some heterogeneities exist: the negative association is found among women with less education (income), and constrained by Confucian family ethics, but no association is found for women from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Women from more traditional and economically disadvantaged backgrounds are conflicted by the prospect of breaking existing social norms designated for them. Therefore, when operating outside the traditional norms to become family decision-makers, their marital satisfaction is reduced.

This study investigates the effects of socioeconomic status on health among older adults in China. It uses three waves of the nationally representative Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted in 2005, 2008–2009, and 2011–2012. It explores two dependent dummy variables of self-rated health and functional health and employs subjective and objective measures of socioeconomic status. Based on two-stage fixed-effects linear probability modeling, where potential endogeneity bias is accounted for, this study finds that socioeconomic status positively affects both self-rated health and functional health of Chinese older people. The positive impact holds true across different gender and age groups, but it is sensitive to the choice of health and socioeconomic status measures.

This study documents the effect of financial literacy on the portfolio diversity of family wealth in China with a two-way, fixed-effect model. The results show that most people in China do not have sufficient financial literacy to understand financial assets, which implies a lack of financial knowledge in China. It also looks into the determinants of holding each financial asset, no matter how high- or low-risk, which has not been fully explored in the existing literature. The empirical results found that the knowledge of portfolio diversity increases according to their levels of education and financial literacy. In addition, people living in urban areas diversify their portfolios more than in rural areas. People with high financial literacy understand the value of time (interest); therefore, they prefer to have portfolios that evaluate time and avoid options that do not (cash). We also found that people’s characteristics in risk significantly affect whether they hold stock, mutual funds, or other financial assets.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) plays an integral role in reducing children’s food insecurity. However, little is known about its effect on food insecurity of children in U.S. immigrant households, who are more likely to be food insecure and less likely to take advantage of SNAP. I addressed this knowledge gap by analyzing data from the 2010 to 2016 Current Population Survey-Food Security Supplement using the switching regression model. The results indicated that SNAP reduced the probability of food insecurity among children in U.S. immigrant and nonimmigrant households by 23.3 and 21.0 percentage points, respectively. Therefore, SNAP was more successful in reducing children’s food insecurity in immigrant households compared with nonimmigrant households.

Advanced societies are characterized by a greater incorporation of women into the labor market, with women having increasingly higher levels of education and occupying more prominent positions. This trend has resulted in growing number of households in which women earn more than their male partners. This study analyzes the presence of these women in countries with different welfare models, examining the most relevant characteristics and the impact on the family and on household management. To fulfill these objectives, we used the latest wave of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Family and Changing Gender Roles IV (2012). The characteristics studied were grouped into four dimensions: country of residence, sociodemographic characteristics, egalitarian values, and the management of intimacy. Our results indicate that female primary breadwinners tend to be older and more educated than their male partners, less religious, and more likely not to have children; they have more egalitarian values and a greater tendency to manage money separately.

This paper studies the distribution of resources within Albanian families in 2012 using a collective consumption model with two alternative specifications: the first enables the estimation of the intrahousehold distribution of resources among male adults, female adults and children; the second extends the analysis to girls and boys. In line with previous evidence on gender inequality in Albania, the results show that the female share of resources is substantially lower with respect to the male share, and that sons receive a larger share of resources than daughters. Considering that Albania experienced massive migration and return of young men in the 20 years before the survey, we further analyze the potential migration-induced transfer of gender norms. We find that the time spent abroad by the husband of the main couple has little influence on woman’s relative position within the households, however it does seem to favor a more equal treatment between daughters and sons. This result suggests that gender norms are more persistent in adult couples, however gender attitudes towards offspring are more elastic to social change.

This paper examines the changes in vertical equity across different types of tax filing families during the span of a series of drastic personal income tax reforms in Taiwan. The newly enacted 2016 Taxpayer Rights Protection Act has brought unprecedented challenges to the tax authority’s distributional goal and revenue stability. Utilizing the administrative tax return data collected by the Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Information Agency between 2016 and 2018, we show that while the income tax has contributed to improving equality in income distribution, the effects, however, were limited and even declined slightly in recent years. We also found that distributions of tax benefits are generally regressive, especially among itemized and special deductions. It is also shown that the personal exemption and the adjustments of basic living expenses provided comparably more relief to households with dependents than to those claiming no dependents. According to our two-parameter metric encompassing the usage rates and the tax-benefit distributions for each deduction, we found that itemized deductions and special deductions, in general, are regressive. Specifically, we calculate and compare different representative families’ tax payments before and after the reform. While the tax reform has helped reduce many tax-filing families’ tax liabilities, most tax benefits generated from the expansion of exemptions and deductions would likely be enjoyed by families with higher incomes. In a broader reform-minded context, the analysis cautions the tax authority in Taiwan and equity pursuing policy makers in other countries not to prioritize an overarching short-term equity goal over long-term revenue stabilization. Phasing out or capping some of the itemized deductions such as donations and special deductions related to discretionary purchasing decisions looks to be a promising reform path toward improving equity and restoring revenue stability.

Are savings evenly distributed and owned within families or do partners within families differ in their wealth? In this paper we investigated the ownership of financial assets within families and how joint savings affect the individual savings of the partners. We used anonymised monthly transactional data from ING Bank from 2014 to 2016 to observe financial data on Dutch couples. We found that savings were quite equally allocated in almost half of the households, while in the other half it was common that only one partner owned an individual account. The estimations showed that joint savings contributed to a more equal division of savings since they were held equally. However, we found larger differences in individual savings among partners who shared some savings, suggesting that the use of joint savings did not lead to individual savings being more evenly distributed, but rather to the opposite. The pattern was more apparent for households in their 20s and for savings accounts. The results of the study highlight the need for a better understanding of how partners make decisions about applying the sharing rule to joint and individual savings.

At the international level, Iceland is faring well on gender assessments concerning economic status, political position, education, and health. However, these rankings fail to assess what is happening within the private sphere regarding gender equality. We argue that research on the interplay between the domestic and public spheres is important because these overlapping fields affect the lives of women and men differently. By focusing on the earnings of doctorate holders in Iceland, we aim to obtain a better understanding of the gendered meaning and implications of found earnings inequalities. Relying on longitudinal population register data, as well as 32 in-depth interviews with doctorate holders, we find that the men earn significantly more than the women. While the quantitative model only explains a small part of the inequality, the qualitative findings indicate that decisions made within the household, referred to as team play, negotiation, and choices, play a defining role in post-doctorate career development. We conclude that, despite the male breadwinner model being outdated in Icelandic society, some of its pillar thoughts still persist beneath the surface, keeping gender inequality within the household in place.

Although young adults are interested in finance, their financial competence, especially about the topic of retirement, is fairly thin. With a large sample of members of Generation Z (ages 18–25, n = 1,311), I explored whether young adults talk about retirement with others; and the correlates between talking about retirement and retirement preparation. Participants reported whether they have spoken about retirement with nine sources: parents, siblings, other family members (non-parent; non-sibling), friends, significant others, co-workers, financial advisors, people on internet forums, and “other sources.” All participants reported to have discussed retirement with at least one source, with parents being the most common. Young adults’ attitudes towards retirement preparation were largely positive. For example, participants acknowledged the importance of learning about retirement and experienced more positive than negative affect when thinking about retirement. Behavioral measures of retirement preparation did not yield any effects, showing a potential gap between young adults’ retirement preparation attitudes and behavior. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the effect of retirement conversations on retirement preparation varied by source. I tie the findings into past research and discuss practical implications.

The main aim of this study is to analyse household consumption patterns in the highest and lowest income quintiles and explore how they have changed over time and generations. Thus, the article explores whether social inclusivity through consumption has truly increased. This study utilises the cross-sectional time-series data of the Finnish Household Expenditure Surveys (HESs), covering the period 1966-2016. We use the Age-Period-Cohort Gap/Oaxaca (APCGO) model with logitrank dependent variables as the main statistical method. Our results indicate that an overall high income is advantageous with respect to income and spending, though the gap between high-and low-income groups has remained stagnant over cohorts. A more in-depth analysis reveals that the expenditure gap, in terms of necessities, food, and groceries consumption, has narrowed. Instead, income elastic-oriented spending on culture and leisure time has significantly increased in the high-income group, where the expenditure gap has expanded 60 percentage points over the cohorts. Simply put, expenditures on necessities have become more inclusive, but low-income groups are increasingly more 'leisure-poor'. Overall, high-income classes are spending an increasing amount of money on culture and leisure time over cohorts.

We examine how out-of-pocket health care spending by single-mother families responds to income losses. We use eleven two-year panels of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for the period 2004–2015 and apply the correlated random effects estimation approach. We categorize income in relation to the federal poverty line (FPL): poor or near-poor (less than 125% of the FPL); low income (125 to 199% of the FPL); middle income (200 to 399% of the FPL); and high income (400% of the FPL or more). Income losses among high-income single-mother families lead a decline in out-of-pocket spending toward office-based care and emergency room care of $119–$138 and $30–$60, respectively. Among middle-income single-mother families, income losses lead to a $30 decline in out-of-pocket spending toward family emergency room care and a $45–$91 decline in mother’s out-of-pocket spending toward prescription medications. Further research should examine whether these declines compromise health status of single-mother family members.

Family firms are an important source of wealth creation and employment growth. One reason for the low survival rate of family firms is issues with succession, as the failure to plan for succession may shake the firm’s foundation. As competitive advantages do not exist forever, successors should take over at an appropriate time to maintain the firm’s sustainability. This study used archived data to identify who is a comparably better successor and during what lifecycle period firms should execute their succession to be the most helpful for their sustainability. The sample included firms in Taiwan with key data listed in Taiwan Economic Journal Databases (TEJ) from 1996 through 2017. The main findings indicated that firm performance does not necessarily decline after succession. When considering both succession factors and the corporate life cycle, succeeding a firm to children during its growth stage is the first choice for family firms. However, in terms of the corporate life cycle, family firms should avoid succession to children during either the firms’ maturity or shake-out stages as well as succession to an external CEO during the firms’ introduction stage.

This paper explores the impact and mechanisms of household debt on food expenditure. This study centers on panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (2012, 2014, and 2016) and employs a fixed-effect panel model to demonstrate that household debt can significantly reduce food expenditure share. In addition, this conclusion is quite robust regardless of changing index definitions, or the estimation method. Particularly, informal debt significantly decreases food expenditure share at home. This study postulates that a decline in the Engel’s coefficient caused by debt may not coincide with improved household welfare. It concludes that the negative influence of debt on food expenditure is through two mechanisms: the asset-income effect and liquidity constraints. Finally, a finding aligns with the assertation of Banks et al. (79:527–539,1997) that the relationship between the Engel’s coefficient and income will present an inverted U-shaped pattern during the rapid debt growth period in urban China.

Women’s disadvantage in financial knowledge impedes their progress toward gender equality and produces negative consequences for both individuals and households. To better understand the gender gap in financial knowledge and shed light on possible intervention strategies, this study focused on gender differences in financial knowledge specifically among college students. Drawing on data from the most recent administration of the Study on Collegiate Financial Wellness (SCFW; N = 18,107) among current college students from 38 public four-year institutions, we investigated the gender financial knowledge gap and paid particular attention to the roles of family financial socialization, financial education, and financial behaviors. We identified a sizable gender gap in financial knowledge, even after controlling for other potential factors. OLS regression models and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analyses showed that financial education—indicated by majoring in Business and STEM fields and formal financial courses in high school—was most related to the gender gap in financial knowledge scores. Hands-on financial behaviors were positively associated with financial knowledge acquisition, particularly for female students. In addition, the family socialization process was largely not associated with students’ financial knowledge scores or the gender knowledge gap. Based on these findings, we discussed potential intervention strategies for promoting financial knowledge and reducing the gender gap among and beyond college students.

Extensive research has been conducted regarding attitudes toward various types and patterns of violence against intimate partners, but there is a lack of research on attitudes toward economic abuse in general. In the current study, we examined attitudes toward economic abuse by examining how participants blamed the victim, minimized the economic abuse, and excused the perpetrator in hypothetical scenarios. We also examined two characteristics of participants: binary gender differences (i.e., woman, man) and differences between students and non-students. Participants (N = 239) were recruited via the SONA system of a private university (n = 120) and via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (n = 119). Participants were randomly assigned to read one of two hypothetical scenarios to evaluate how scenario condition (i.e., victim employed, victim unemployed), participant gender, and participant student status predicted attitudes toward economic abuse involving blaming, minimizing, and excusing. Moreover, we also examined ambivalent sexism and gender role ideology as predictors. A 2 (scenario condition: job, no job) × 2 (participant gender: woman, man) × 2 (student status: college student, non-college student) MANOVA indicated main effects of both participant gender and participant student status. Follow-up ANOVAs revealed that men were more likely to blame victims, minimize the economic abuse, and excuse perpetrators compared to women. Additionally, students were less likely to minimize the economic abuse compared to non-students. Moreover, both hostile sexism and traditional gender role ideology were significant predictors. Implications of the findings and future directions for researchers are discussed.

The accumulation of wealth by households is an essential contributor towards macroeconomic and financial stability and resilience, while also affecting social mobility. The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between household wealth and the receipt of inheritances and intergenerational transfers. We use detailed micro-level data from the 2017 vintage of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) for households across the Euro Area in order to explore this relationship in detail, analyzing various classes of assets and liabilities, together with inflows of inheritances and gifts between 2014 and 2017, as well as any associated wealth effects. The results show that inheritance flows are positively and significantly-associated with net overall household wealth, primarily via increases in the value of liquid assets like publicly-traded shares and the value of existing self-employment business, while reducing mortgage debt, particularly outstanding loans related to the household’s main residence. We find no evidence of any wealth effects from inheritances in terms of increased consumption expenditure, leisure spending or motor vehicle ownership. These findings collectively suggest that households anticipated the bequests received, with behavior in line with predictions emanating from standard rational expectations life cycle income hypothesis models.