Mathilde Lund Holm defends her PhD dissertation at the Department of Economics
Candidate:
Mathilde Lund Holm, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen
Title:
Empirical Essays on Family Economics: Divorce, Children, and Gender Inequality
Supervisor:
- Mette Ejrnæs, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen
Assessment Committee:
- Torben Heien Nielsen, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen
- Libertad González, Professor, Department of Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics
- Herdis Steingrimsdottir, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School
Summary:
This Ph.D. dissertation was part of the 5+3 Ph.D. program at the Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen, with generous funding from the ROCKWOOL Foundation.
The dissertation consists of three self-contained chapters all engaging in the field of Economics of the Family. The chapters share a common interest in family events and dynamics and use Danish register data and microeconometric methods to study either divorce or fertility. The first- and second chapters study divorce and the third paper focuses on fertility.
Chapter 1: The Effects of Parental Union Dissolution on Children’s Test Scores
The first chapter, coauthored with Peter Fallesen and Eskil Heinesen, provides evidence of the adverse effects of parental union dissolution on children’s test scores. First, controlling for individual fixed effects and using recent advancements in staggered difference-in-differences methods, we find negative effects on test scores that increase from the year of parental separation to four years after. The decline in test scores originates from children in the middle of the skill distribution. Second, we find indications of an immediate negative effect using a regression discontinuity design, with the difference in time between the test date and parental separation date as the running variable.
Chapter 2: Unveiling New Realities: The Economic Disparities for Fathers After Divorce
The second chapter concludes that the economic repercussions of divorce are more significant for men than women in Denmark. This conclusion is controversial in the light of the existing literature. This paper identifies the causal effect of divorce by applying a staggered difference-in-difference model and using later-treated fathers as a control group. At the time of parental separation, fathers face a substantial decline of 9 percent of annual earnings, whereas the decline for mothers is only 2 percent. The adverse effect for paternal earnings has intensified over time, especially for cohorts separating between 2005 and 2014. Lastly, the paper suggests that increased paternal childcare responsibilities could be an essential mechanism.
Chapter 3: The Cohabitation and Child Penalty in Non-Nuclear Families
The third chapter, coauthored with Mette Ejrnæs, focuses on fertility and its economic adverse impact on women. Despite advancements in gender equality, income disparities persist, and parenthood remains a pain point for gender equality. The term "child penalty" highlights the financial cost of having children, primarily observed for mothers. This study explores the child penalty in non-nuclear families to contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms and drivers behind it. It compares the experiences of mothers who have their first child in nuclear families to (step)mothers who have their firstborn child with a spouse who has children from previous relationships. Both groups face a child penalty at childbirth, with stepmothers experiencing a more significant impact. Interestingly, a cohabitation penalty is observed for both, but it appears to be more enduring for stepmothers. Using Danish register data and a double-event study method, these findings contribute to understanding the complexities surrounding parenthood and gender equality.
An electronic copy of the dissertation can be requested here: lema@econ.ku.dk