The Individual and the Welfare State (eBook)

Prof. Axel Börsch-Supan, Ph.D., is Professor of Economics at the University of Mannheim, Director of the Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA) and Coordinator of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).Dr. Martina Brandt is a Senior Researcher at the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in the Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), University of Mannheim.Prof. Dr. Karsten Hank is Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Sociology, University of Cologne.Mathis Schröder, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at the German Socio Economic Panel (SOEP) in the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). He was the Project Manager for the SHARELIFE project at the Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA) from 2007 to 2010.

List of Authors 6
Contents 14
Contributors 18
Chapter 1: Employment and Health at 50+: An Introduction to a Life History Approach to European Welfare State Interventions 22
1.1 A New Approach to Analysing the European Welfare State 22
1.2 Combining Life History Micro Data with Macro Data on Welfare State Interventions 23
1.3 How the Welfare State Has Shaped Health, Employment and Many Other Aspects of Our Lives at Older Ages 27
1.3.1 Part I: Income, Housing, and Wealth 28
1.3.2 Part II: Work and Retirement 30
1.3.3 Part III: Health and Health Care 31
1.3.4 Part IV: Persecution 33
1.4 Conclusions 33
References 36
Part I: Income, Housing, and Wealth 37
Chapter 2: Explaining Persistent Poverty in SHARE: Does the Past Play a Role? 38
2.1 Identifying 50 Years of Social Progress 38
2.2 What Is to Be Explained? Poverty 2004-2007 39
2.3 Initial Conditions: Childhood Deprivation in the SHARE Sample 42
2.4 Transitions to Poverty: A Poverty Probit 43
2.5 Conclusion: A ``European Social Model´´? 47
References 48
Chapter 3: Childhood, Schooling and Income Inequality 49
3.1 Childhood Effects Over the Life-Cycle 49
3.2 Childhood Socio-Economic Indicators 50
3.3 Childhood Resources and Educational Attainments 52
3.4 Childhood Resources and Income Inequality 54
3.5 Discussion and Concluding Remarks 60
References 61
Chapter 4: Human Capital Accumulation and Investment Behaviour 62
4.1 Limited Participation in Financial Markets 62
4.2 When Did Older Europeans First Invest? 63
4.3 The Role of Human Capital Accumulation 66
4.4 Multivariate Duration Analysis 69
4.5 Conclusions 73
References 73
Chapter 5: The Impact of Childhood Health and Cognition on Portfolio Choice 75
5.1 Why Childhood Conditions Can Affect Risk Taking in Older Age 75
5.2 Indicators of Childhood Health and Cognition 76
5.3 Asset Ownership and Risk Preferences 78
5.4 Summary 81
References 82
Chapter 6: Nest Leaving in Europe 83
6.1 A North-South Gradient 83
6.2 The ``Push-Pull Effect´´ of Family 84
6.3 Life-Time Parent-Child Co-residence 85
6.4 A Historical Decline, Which is Stopped or Reversed for Those Born After the Mid 1960s 86
6.5 The Influence of Parental Background and Home 87
6.6 The Importance of Housing Policies 89
6.7 Women Leave Earlier than Men, but Leaving Directly to Marry Has Declined 90
6.8 Nest Leaving and Education: Leaving Early is Good! 92
6.9 Conclusion 95
References 96
Chapter 7: Homeownership in Old Age at the Crossroad Between Personal and National Histories 97
7.1 Homeownership as Old Age Insurance 97
7.2 A Digest of Housing Policies in Europe 98
7.3 Homeownership Rate by Age, Cohort and Country 99
7.3.1 Age Profiles 101
7.3.2 Cohort Effects of the First Type: The Spread of Home Ownership 102
7.3.3 Second Type of Cohort Effects: Earlier Access to Home Ownership Thanks to Credit 102
7.4 Tenure and Location Over the Life-Cycle 103
7.5 How Mortgages Help to Become Homeowners 104
7.6 Conclusions 107
References 108
Chapter 8: Does Downsizing of Housing Equity Alleviate Financial Distress in Old Age? 109
8.1 Housing and Financial Distress 109
8.2 How Often Do Europeans Move? 111
8.3 When Do Older Europeans Move? 113
8.4 Why Don´t Older Europeans Trade Down More? 116
8.5 Conclusions 117
References 117
Chapter 9: Separation: Consequences for Wealth in Later Life 118
9.1 Separation as an Increasingly Important Issue 118
9.2 In the Long Term 120
9.3 The Importance of Institutions 120
9.4 Data and Variables 121
9.4.1 Dependent Variables 121
9.4.2 Independent Variables 122
9.4.3 Control Variables 123
9.5 Results 123
9.6 Conclusion 128
References 128
Part II: Work and Retirement 130
Chapter 10: Early and Later Life Experiences of Unemployment Under Different Welfare Regimes 131
10.1 Unemployment in a Life Course and Cross-National Perspective 131
10.2 Unemployment Histories in SHARELIFE: Measurement and Analysis 132
10.3 Regional and Career Stage Variations in Levels of Unemployment 133
10.4 Correlates of Job Loss Over the Life Course 134
10.5 Unemployment as a Contextual Variable: Does It Matter? 136
10.6 Summary and Perspectives for Future Research 136
References 138
Chapter 11: Labour Mobility and Retirement 139
11.1 Work Life Histories 139
11.2 Job Turnover 140
11.3 Employment and Unemployment Duration 143
11.4 Replacement Rates 144
11.5 Conclusions 148
References 149
Chapter 12: Atypical Work Patterns of Women in Europe: What Can We Learn From SHARELIFE? 150
12.1 Introduction 150
12.2 Identifying the Groups: Dominant and Atypical Patterns 151
12.3 Career Interruptions of Women with Some Work Experience and Children 154
12.4 Comparing Minorities: Two Exercises 156
12.5 Explaining the Patterns: Does Social Policy and Employment Protection Matter? 157
12.6 Conclusions 160
References 162
Chapter 13: Maternity and Labour Market Outcome: Short and Long Term Effects 163
13.1 Maternity and Labour Market Outcomes 163
13.2 Maternity Leave Across Europe 164
13.3 Short Term Effects 165
13.4 Long Term Effect 166
13.5 Conclusion 171
References 171
Chapter 14: Reproductive History and Retirement: Gender Differences and Variations Across Welfare States 172
14.1 Multiple Perspectives on the Fertility-Employment Nexus in Later Life 172
14.2 Reproductive and Employment Histories in SHARELIFE 173
14.3 Parenthood, Number of Children, Timing of Fertility: What Determines Older Individuals´ Exit from the Labour Market? 174
14.4 Summary 177
References 178
Chapter 15: Quality of Work, Health and Early Retirement: European Comparisons 179
15.1 Relations of Quality of Work and Retirement 179
15.2 Measuring Quality of Work in SHARELIFE 180
15.3 Effects of Quality of Work on Health and Early Retirement 182
15.4 Summary 186
References 187
Chapter 16: Working Conditions in Mid-life and Participation in Voluntary Work After Labour Market Exit 188
16.1 Social Position and Participation Across European Countries 188
16.2 Measuring Working Conditions in Mid-life in Relation to the Welfare State 190
16.3 Associations of Working Conditions and Volunteering After Labour Market Exit 192
16.4 Summary 194
References 196
Part III: Health and Health Care 198
Chapter 17: Scar or Blemish? Investigating the Long-Term Impact of Involuntary Job Loss on Health 199
17.1 Job Loss: A Risk for Individual Wellbeing 199
17.2 Literature Findings on Job Loss and Wellbeing 200
17.3 Job Loss and Health in the SHARELIFE Sample 202
17.4 The Analysis of Job Loss and Health 204
17.5 Influences of the Welfare State 206
17.6 Summary 208
References 208
Chapter 18: Life-Course Health and Labour Market Exit in 13 European Countries: Results From SHARELIFE 210
18.1 Health and Labour Market Participation 210
18.2 Measuring Labour Market Exits and Health 211
18.3 Illness over the Life-Course 212
18.4 The Impact of Illness on Labour Market Exit 214
18.5 The Role of Public Health and Labour Policies 216
18.6 Conclusions 217
References 219
Chapter 19: Work Disability and Health Over the Life Course 221
19.1 Work Disability Across European Countries 221
19.2 Variables and Technique 223
19.3 Regression Results at the Individual Level 224
19.4 Counterfactual Simulations at the Country Level 227
19.5 Discussion and Conclusions 229
References 230
Chapter 20: Health Insurance Coverage and Adverse Selection 231
20.1 Adverse Selection and Health Insurance 231
20.2 Health Insurance Coverage 232
20.3 A Health Risk Indicator 234
20.4 The Health Risk Insurance Coverage Correlation 234
20.5 Conclusions 236
References 236
Chapter 21: Lifetime History of Prevention in European Countries: The Case of Dental Check-Ups 238
21.1 Access to Dental Care: An Indicator of Performance of Health Care Systems 238
21.2 Data on Individuals and Health Systems 239
21.3 Lifetime Underuse of Dental Care in European Countries 239
21.4 Elements of Health Policy Regarding Dental Care in European Countries 242
21.5 Reasons for Missing Routine Dental Controls in European Countries 243
21.6 Conclusions 244
References 245
Chapter 22: Disparities in Regular Health Care Utilisation in Europe 246
22.1 Regular Care Use as a Public Health Issue 246
22.2 Measuring Healthcare Utilisation Habits 247
22.3 Regular Health Care Use at a Glance 249
22.4 Determinants of Individual Healthcare Habits 254
22.5 Exploring Cross-Country Differences in Healthcare Habits 256
22.6 Conclusion 258
References 259
Chapter 23: Does Poor Childhood Health Explain Increased Health Care Utilisation and Payments in Middle and Old Age? 260
23.1 The Long-Lasting Health Care Consequences of Childhood Conditions 260
23.2 Data 261
23.3 Association Between Childhood Health and Health Care Utilisation in Adulthood 263
23.4 Exploring Mechanisms Responsible for the Association 267
23.5 Does the Association Vary Across Europe? 269
23.6 Conclusion and Policy Relevance 270
References 271
Part IV: Persecution 273
Chapter 24: Persecution in Central Europe and Its Consequences on the Lives of SHARERespondents 274
24.1 Reflections of European History 274
24.2 Persecution in Europe in the Twentieth Century 274
24.3 European History and State Persecution in the Twentieth Century 275
24.4 State Persecution in the SHARELIFE Questionnaire 276
24.5 Persecution and Its Consequences in Central Europe 280
24.6 Long-term Effects of Persecution 284
24.7 The Role of Distant Past in SHARE Data 286
References 287