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| Family related transfers and children's economic well-being in Europe | |
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Language
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English |
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URL
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http://iserwww.essex.ac.uk/activities/conferences/epunet-2003/docs/pdf/papers/frick.pdf
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Abstract
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Welfare regimes across Europe differ considerably with respect to the support of families and households with dependent children (cf. e.g. Esping-Andersen 1990, Headey et al 1997). Relevant policy instruments reach from in-kind transfers (like free access to education, (subsidized) health care, etc.) to means-tested benefits (e.g., social assistance) and even benefits with unrestricted access. In striving for a harmonization of social policy across EU-countries more insight in these cross-national differences is needed. However, when interpreting cross-national differences, one should keep in mind that individual behavior ¡V for our analysis mainly with respect to fertility ¡V is not independent from family related public transfers as well as other institutional settings (labor market, child care facilities, etc). Our research agenda is thought to add to this by concentrating on a comparison of some selected monetary indicators of economic well-being of children (up to 16 years of age) across Europe. We are explicitly interested in incidence and importance of family related public transfers (FRT); as such, our major income information is disposable household income as of the previous year with special attention to the share of the above mentioned transfers. Besides being a valuable contribution to a rather underdeveloped area of research (cf. Vleminckx and Smeeding, 2001), our focus on the subpopulation of dependent children helps to better understand the impact of family related transfers for the economic position of an original target population (cf. Immervoll et al, 1999). In order to control for differences in children¡¦s household needs according to size and composition we make use of the modified OECD equivalence scale (1.0; 0.5; 0.3). Using cross-sectional and longitudinal micro-data from the new CHER (Consortium of Household Panels for European Socio-Economic Research, cf. http://www.ceps.lu/CherPaco/CherPaco.htm) database we then compare income levels, relative income positions, and selected poverty indicators (using p-(Ñ)n as suggested by Foster et al 1984). In order to better understand differences across countries, and even more across welfare regimes, we then apply multivariate analysis methods. Using adequate regression techniques we try to isolate correlates of a high dependence of children on FRT at the level of each country: independent variables cover demographics (e.g. age, household composition, citizenship), labor market (e.g. employment situation within the child¡¦s household, affection by unemployment), education, health, etc. Finally, we make full use of the cross-nationally harmonized information available in the CHER-database by pooling data across all countries in order to check for country and welfare regime effects while simultaneously controlling for individual characteristics. |
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Reference
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Frick, Joachim R., Otto, Birgit (2003 July) 'Family related transfers and children's economic well-being in Europe -draft: do not quote without authors' permission-', EPUNet-2003 Conference: the conference of the European Panel Users Network: 3-5 July 2003, Colchester |
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JEL Codes
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I38,J13,P51 |
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Authors
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Joachim R. Frick, Birgit Otto |
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Countries included
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Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom |
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ECHP Waves
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1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 |
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Institutions Involved
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Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin |
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Contact Details
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