Discouraged vs. added workers

Variation by gender, age, and marital status

Bibliographic Data

ID12007601
AuthorsRandall G Kesselring (Arkansas State University, corresponding author), Randall Kesselring (Arkansas State University), Dale Bremmer (0000-0002-4833-1672, Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology)
Year2015
Volume52
Issue3
Pages374-385
Publication date2015-02-21
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Social Science Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0362-3319 • E-ISSN: 1873-5355
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/j.soscij.2015.01.001
OpenAlexW2027081763
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited6

This paper analyzes the relationship between aggregate unemployment and the labor force participation of males and females of differing ages and marital circumstances. According to the discouraged-worker effect, a higher unemployment rate causes some workers to leave the labor force leading to a reduction in both the labor-force participation rate and the unemployment rate. To shed light on this statistical incongruity, a unique data set consisting of monthly observations from the Current Population Survey is used to extract the labor force participation rates of males and females of three different age categories and three different marital classifications. Impulse functions from vector error-correction models indicate that discouraged workers are more likely though not exclusively to consist of married males and females between 50 and 65 years of age. No statistically significant evidence of a net added-worker effect is found among married females or males in any age group

Demographic economics · Economics · Marital status · Population · Sociology · Variation (astronomy · Demography · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub