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Effects of Parental Death on Labor Market Outcomes

Mathias Fjællegaard Jensen¹; Ning Zhang²

¹ University of Oxford (email: ) · ² The Chinese University of Hong Kong (email: )

We use Danish administrative data to examine the effects of parental death on labor market outcomes. Leveraging the timing of sudden, first parental deaths and a matched-control difference-in-differences strategy, we find that men’s earnings decline by 2 percent, while women’s earnings decline by 3 percent following a parental death. Both women and men experience mental health deterioration, leading to increased use of psychological assistance and prescriptions for mental health conditions and opioids. Women with young children experience a comparatively larger earnings decline (around 4 percent) likely due to the loss of informal childcare. (JEL D91, I12, J13, J16, J31)

DOI

10.1257/aer.20240432

Volume

116 (5)

Pages

1811-1836

Language

en

Export

BibTeX

Sources

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