Can family characteristics influence the future labor situation of children? Evidence for Spain
International Journal of Social Economics
ISSN: 0306-8293
Article publication date: 22 October 2019
Issue publication date: 22 October 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether family support, measured through the labor status of parents and the presence of both parents in the household during adolescence, may be an important determinant of unemployment in Spain.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this issue, we follow the Quantity-Quality model of Becker–Lewis (Becker and Lewis, 1973), using data from the Survey of Living Conditions (2011).
Findings
First, the results show that individuals living with both parents at home during their teenage years are less likely to be unemployed in the future. Second, the authors find evidence of the intergenerational transmission of unemployment outcomes, and that the unemployment status of the mother is strongly transferred to the child. Additionally, the authors extend this work to an analysis of other labor characteristics, finding that family support is an important determinant of self-employment and temporary employment. The findings are robust to controls for observable and unobservable characteristics by region, and to the use of different subsamples.
Originality/value
This study can be considered as first evidence of the effect of family support during adolescence on the Spanish labor market.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper has benefited from funding from the Government of Aragón.
Citation
Morales, M. (2019), "Can family characteristics influence the future labor situation of children? Evidence for Spain", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 46 No. 10, pp. 1214-1233. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-04-2019-0238
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited