Trends in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility

This paper examines trends in intergenerational earnings mobility by estimating ordinary least squares, quantile regression, and transition matrix coefficients using five cohorts from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, observed between 1968 and 1993. The results indicate that mobility increased for sons with respect to fathers and remained constant for sons and daughters with respect to mothers. Moreover, the findings from the father-son sample suggest that the difference between the mobility levels of the rich and the poor narrowed over this period. The estimated pattern of changing mobility is consistent with an increasing rate of regression to the mean.

The Connection Between Maternal Employment and Childhood Obesity: Inspecting the Mechanisms

This paper investigates the channels through which maternal employment affects childhood obesity. We use time diaries and interview responses from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics which combine information on children’s time allocation and mother’s labor force participation. Our empirical strategy involves estimating the effect of children’s activities and meal routines on BMI, estimating the effect of maternal employment on these activities and routines and then combining these two estimates. We find that maternal employment affects child weight through two main mechanisms – supervision and nutrition, however, the particular channels vary by mother’s education.Childhood Obesity, Labor Supply, Time Allocations

Is Intergenerational Earnings Mobility Affected by Divorce?

This study examines whether the intergenerational transmission of human capital, measured by intergenerational earnings mobility, is affected by divorce. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, I find that, with each additional year in a family involving a single or a step parent, the earnings mobility between biological fathers and children rises and the mobility between mothers and daughters falls. However, using either sibling fixed effects or instrumental variable estimation, I find that the association between family structure and father-child mobility is explained by selection. These findings have two important implications. First, they imply that the increase in father-son mobility observed in other studies can be explained by the rise in single and step parent families over the same period. Second, these findings imply that the connection between fathers and children would have been weak whether or not a divorce occurred, which does not support the hypothesis that father absence is an important factor contributing to differences in child outcomes across family structures.intergenerational earnings mobility, family structure

Minimum Drinking Age Laws and Infant Health Outcomes

Alcohol policies have potentially far-reaching impacts on risky sexual behavior, prenatal health behaviors, and subsequent outcomes for infants. We examine whether changes in minimum drinking age (MLDA) laws affect the likelihood of poor birth outcomes. Using data from the National Vital Statistics (NVS) for the years 1978-88, we find that a drinking age of 18 is associated with adverse outcomes among births to young mothers -- including higher incidences of low birth weight and premature birth, but not congenital malformations. The effects are largest among black women. We find suggestive evidence from both the NVS and the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) that the MLDA laws alter the composition of births that occur. In states with lenient drinking laws, young black mothers are more likely to have used alcohol 12 months prior to the birth of their child and less likely to report paternal information on the birth certificate. We suspect that lenient drinking laws generate poor birth outcomes because they increase the number of unplanned pregnancies.

The Connection Between Maternal Employment and Childhood Obesity: Inspecting the Mechanisms

This paper investigates the channels through which maternal employment affects childhood obesity. We use time diaries and interview responses from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics which combine information on children’s time allocation and mother’s labor force participation. Our empirical strategy involves estimating the effect of children’s activities and meal routines on BMI, estimating the effect of maternal employment on these activities and routines and then combining these two estimates. We find that maternal employment affects child weight through two main mechanisms – supervision and nutrition, however, the particular channels vary by mother’s education

Public Housing & Health: Is there a connection?

This paper explores the relationship between public housing and health outcomes among low-income housing residents. While public housing can be dangerous and unhealthy environments to live, the subsidized rent may free up resources for nutritious food and health care. In addition, public housing may be of higher quality than the available alternatives, it may provide easier access to health clinics willing to serve the poor, and it may link residents to social support networks, which can improve mental health and the ability to access higher-quality grocery stores. To test whether there is a back-door health benefit to the public housing program, we analyze data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. We minimize the effects of selection into public housing with controls and instrumental variables estimation and find that public housing residence may reduce the mother’s probability of smoking. The other results are sensitive to the instrumental variable used, and thus, we conclude that, except with respect to smoking, we are unable to detect a robust health effect of public housing.public housing, health