ENTITLEMENT EFFECTS, UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS

Many studies have identified the work disincentive effects of unemployment insurance. This paper points out the entitlement effect of this and other social insurance programs on employment, as the risks of labor-market participation are reduced by the existence of unemployment benefits. This employment-increasing effect can offset the disincentive effect, with the net impact on employment becoming an empirical issue. Using data on a sample of married women for 1971, we find that on net there is a slight negative effect on employment of higher unemployment insurance benefits. The entitlement effect on employment is, though, generally positive and significant, suggesting that the provisions of social insurance induce increased labor-force participation among women who otherwise would remain out of the labor force.     

Career Sidestep,Wage Setback? The Impact of Different Types of Employment Interruptions on Wages

We examined the wage implications of different types of wage employment interruptions in a sample of 44,384 Belgian employees. The employment interruption types included are family leave, unemployment, self‐employment, educational leave and a category other interruptions (for example, travel, voluntary work). We conduct separate analyses for men and women. Results indicate that unemployment spells and family breaks are penalized by lower subsequent wages, while the wage impact of self‐employment spells and educational leave is insignificant. Family breaks and unemployment spells were found to be more harmful for men than for women. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.     

From Work to Welfare: Institutional Arrangements Shaping Turkish Marriage Migrants’ Gendered Trajectories into a New Society

Using a mixed methods approach, this article examines gendered patterns of employment and of unemployment benefit uptake among Turkish marriage migrants in Denmark. The results show that men use co‐ethnic networks to access entry positions. Subsequent eligibility for unemployment benefits enable these men to search for better jobs. Women enter employment more slowly and tell of such entry being related to entering the unemployment insurance system, enabling them to periodically conform to gendered expectations as homemakers. Pakistani marriage migrants display similar patterns, indicating the centrality of this institutional arrangement in low‐skilled marriage migrants’ active adaptation to a new society.     

The Effect of Unemployment Insurance on Temporary Help Services Employment

A model with fixed effects and controls for state-specific linear time trends is developed to analyze the influence of state unemployment insurance taxes on temporary help services employment using state level panel data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Prior research has shown that imperfect experience rating of unemployment insurance taxes increases temporary layoffs and that, conversely, more extensive experience rating leads to a decrease in temporary layoffs. The current analysis demonstrates that more extensive experience rating increases temporary help services agency-intermediated temporary employment. To the extent that the increase in temporary help services employment represents a substitution of temporary help services jobs for traditional direct hire jobs, it implies a negative effect on job quality. Steps to address low unemployment insurance recipiency rates by temporary help services workers may alleviate the impact of unemployment insurance tax structures on temporary help services employment.     

Not All Laws are Created Equal: Legal Differences in State Non-Discrimination Laws and the Impact of LGBT Employment Protections

In this paper, I study the impact of legal differences in state employment nondiscrimination acts (ENDAs) for gay men and lesbian women on labor market outcomes. Employing a DDD approach, I show that enacting an employment non-discrimination act is associated with increased wages of gay men and decreased employment of lesbian women. If all employment non-discrimination acts are treated as identical, these laws increased the hourly wages of gay men by 2.7% and decreased the employment of lesbian women by 1.7% and their hours worked by 0.7 hours. The results show that the strength of the law can result in heteroge-neous effects of the laws for gay men, but not for lesbian women. ENDAs with both punitive and compensatory damage provisions resulted in smaller wage increases for gay men than ENDAs with only compensatory damage provisions. ENDAs with longer statutes of limitations for complaints increased the employment of gay men, whereas laws with shorter statutes of limitations decreased employment. Based on the estimates from the state-level employment non-discrimination acts, I argue that extending federal protections under Title VII would lead to a small increase in the wages of gay men, but would significantly reduce the employment of lesbian women.     

The Effect of Private Sector Work Opportunities in Prison on Labor Market Outcomes of the Formerly Incarcerated

This paper examines the effects of a private-sector prison work program called the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP) on formal unemployment duration, duration of formal employment, and earnings of men and women released from various state prisons between 1996 and 2001. It also investigates the labor market dynamics of formerly incarcerated men and women. The program is found to increase reported earnings and formal employment on the extensive margin, with a stronger impact on the formal employment of women. There is little evidence that it increases formal employment along the intensive margin (i.e., duration of formal employment). Contrary to segmented labor market theories, superior employment (i.e., higher-paying jobs) does not lead to increased job stability. Roughly 92 % of individuals who obtained formal employment in the sample experienced job loss; however, reincarceration rates are too low to explain this fact. An evaluation of labor market dynamics reveals that traditional human capital variables, criminogenic factors, and a few demographic characteristics determine job loss. In addition, black women, single women, and women with more extensive criminal histories face greater barriers in the labor market than their male counterparts.     

Employment status of women with disabilities from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (1995-2002)

Among working aged adults (18-64) with disabilities, three out of 10 (32%) work full or part-time, compared to eight out of 10 (81%) of those without disabilities [9]. In addition, 24.7% of women with a severe disability and 27.8% of men with a severe disability are employed, while women with a non-severe disability have an employment rate of 68.4% and men with a non-severe disability have an employment rate of 85.1% [14]. This study examined data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey from 1995-2002 to determine whether or not disparities exist in the rate of unemployment for women with disabilities, compared to men with disabilities and women and men without disabilities. In addition, regression analysis looked at the how disability and gender predict the outcome of unemployment. Results showed that there has been essentially no change with regard to employment for any of these populations. In addition, disability and gender were found to be the strongest predictors of unemployment for women with disabilities. Possible explanations were discussed as to the reasons for the results and issues were presented for future research.     

Who benefits from labor market institutions? Evidence from surveys of life satisfaction

This paper investigates the welfare effects of labor market institutions, placing an emphasis on how the institutions’ effects are differentiated by socio-demographic subgroups. We study how life satisfaction is affected by employment protection and the level and duration of unemployment benefit payments. Using data for almost 370,000 individuals in ten European countries, 1975-2002, we find that more employment protection and a higher benefit replacement rate increase the life satisfaction of the average citizen. At the subgroup level, different segments of the population are affected differently by the two categories of labor market institutions. While employment protection is valued especially by employed persons of intermediate age, it is less beneficial for women/housewives and for older persons. More generous unemployment insurance is valued especially by these latter subgroups and by the unemployed.     

Pregnancy,the Family,and Work: An Historical Review and Update of Legal Regulations and Organizational Policies and Practices in the United States

In spite, or sometimes because, of extensive employment legislation, women have still not achieved economic equality. Traditionally, pertinent employment legislation either singled women out for less-preferential treatment (treating women very differently from men) or treated them exactly the same as men. Both extremes may be based on the idea that the workplace is essentially male, and women should either be prohibited from entering the workplace, or should accept standards designed around male employees. An historical review of the issue of pregnancy/family leave examines the impact of such gendering. Recent legal developments are described. Finally, additional changes that would help create a more gender-neutral workplace are identified and discussed.     

Occupations and the cyclical behavior of gender unemployment rates

The men’s unemployment rate first exceeded the women’s during the recession of the 1980s, a pattern repeated in the 1990s recession. During non-recession years, this gender difference disappeared. We use data disaggregated by occupational categories and show that occupational distribution is critical for explaining the behavior of gender unemployment rates. Although women’s rates are consistently higher than men’s within occupations, the gender distribution across occupations favor lower rates for women. In recessions, the unemployment rates rise for both genders, but the occupational distribution shifts in favor of women’s employment. For expansionary periods, these two effects are offsetting.     

Gender Differences in Unemployment Dynamics and Initial Wages over the Business Cycle

Using administrative data from Spanish Social Security for the period 2002–2013, we explore differences between unemployed men and women in: their probabilities to find a job, their initial wages if they find a new job, and the likelihood to fall back into unemployment. We estimate bivariate proportional hazard models for unemployment duration and for the consecutive job duration for men and women separately, and decompose the gender gap using a non-linear Oaxaca decomposition. Gender differentials in labour market outcomes are procyclical, probably due to the procyclical nature of typically male occupations. While a higher level of education protects women in particular from unemployment, having children hampers women’s employment and initial wages after unemployment. There are lower gender gaps in the public sector and in high technology- firms. Decompositions show that the gender gaps are not explained by differences in sample composition. Indeed, if women had similar characteristics to men, the gender gap would be even wider.     

Understanding Unemployment Across California Counties

Unemployment rates differ widely and persistently across counties. This article examines equilibrium forces related to this geographic disparity with a focus on California. We show that although seasonal variation in employment can account for some of the differences, it cannot explain the total variation. Factors such as educational attainment, age, and gender appear to be strongly related to unemployment differences. Individuals living in higher‐unemployment areas also have a lower propensity to migrate. Because migration is usually considered to be the main equilibrating force, this evidence helps further explain why unemployment rates across counties are persistently different.     

Seeking Justice: The Strategy of the National Social Action Program

Past efforts at law reform have taken years of consciousness raising. The resulting legislation has been ineffective in reducing men’s sexual violence against women and children, in large part because most women are understandably reluctant to go to court. This reluctance comesfrom recognition of the fundamental failures of the legal doctrine. The judicial response to men’s sexual violence can be reformed through the use of existing procedures (e.g., prosecution objections and appeals). This paper describes 3 local actions to start a fast and effective reform of the legal doctrine: Documenting the Outrageous, Challenging the Legal System, and Supporting Victims.     

The Causes of Pro-Immigration Voting in the United States Supreme Court1

During the pre-confirmation debate over Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, critics accused her of allowing her background to influence her judicial decisions. This article assesses the validity of such a claim for all sitting justices from 1875 to 2007 in one relevant policy area, immigration. In this article, we look at all 185 immigration-related decisions by the Supreme Court from its creation through 2007. Logistic general estimating equation regression analysis of Supreme Court voting on these cases suggests that justices who were nominated by Democratic presidents, who were urbanites, and who had previous judicial experience were more likely to vote in favor of immigration. However, justices who grew up in the Southwest, had Southern European ancestors, or were ideological conservatives were more hostile to immigration. Although public opinion, the unemployment rate, and the percent foreign-born in a given year did not affect justices’ votes, non-asylum cases and appeals from the Eighth Circuit were more likely to receive favorable treatment. The mean level of racial liberalism of the Senators in office during a particular justice’s confirmation hearings likewise had a large impact on his or her subsequent rulings. These findings suggest that Supreme Court voting on immigration is substantially influenced by justices’ background and political preferences as well as by some political and legal structures. These results thus support Legal Realism and New Institutionalism instead of the Traditional Legal Model of Supreme Court behavior.     

Rule of law: Sharia panic and the US Constitution in the House of Representatives

In spring of 2011, Peter King (R-NY) convened a hearing titled ‘The Extent of Radicalization among American Muslims’ in the US House of Representatives. Democratic participants critiqued the hearings and contextualized the proceedings within the long history of institutionalized racism in the USA. They argued that the hearings were a threat to the Constitution itself, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause and the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion. Republican participants shared concerns about threats to the Constitution but suggested that the hearings were part of a strategy to combat this threat. Numerous Republican participants identified forms of Islamic law, or sharia law, as the primary threat to the integrity of the rule of law (ROL). Despite opposing positions, all actors agreed that the ‘ROL’ is that which will save the nation from threats posed from both outside and inside the nation and, as such, it is the ROL itself that must be protected. In this sense, the ‘ROL’ ensured by the Constitution inadvertently became the primary object of the hearings. In this essay, we bring analytical approaches from performance studies and anthropology to argue that the hearings impel a re-examination of the concept of ‘ROL’ itself. Rather than simply addressing the legislative effects of the hearings, we are interested in what they reveal about the performative and cultural dimensions of the law and the lawmaking process. While critics of the hearings derisively referred to them as ‘political theater’, we suggest that it is the nature of the King Hearings as staged public spectacle that imbue them with a politically performative power. We also identify the specific effects of sharia panic in contemporary US American political and legal discourse.     

Women's Employment in Transition, 1992–4: the Case of Poland

Since the early 1990s the Polish economy has, in the move towards a market economy, undergone substantial economic reforms which resulted initially in a severe recession and notably in widespread unemployment. In a country where women have traditionally played a major role in the workforce it is pertinent to ask how their role has been affected during the early years of transition to a market economy, what factors explain this, and what their employment prospects are likely to be in a free market economy. After sketching the key features of women's employment in Poland pre-transition the article then addresses these questions using data drawn mainly from the Labour Force Surveys of 1992 and 1994. It finds that women's labour market position has been changing and in 1994 could be said to be mixed: while on the one hand it seems to be deteriorating (rising rates of inactivity and unemployment, the feminization of part-time work), on the other women seem to have been relatively protected from the worst effects of marketization and are in a better position than men according to some unemployment indicators. Prospects for women's employment under a free market economy also appear to be mixed, with much depending on whether the Polish government introduces a framework of national measures to support and encourage women who enter into paid employment.     

Gender,added-worker effects,and the 2007–2009 recession: Looking within the household

The U.S. recession of 2007–2009 saw unemployment rates for men rise by significantly more than those for women, resulting in the downturn’s characterization as a ‘mancession’. This paper uses data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reexamine gender-related dimensions of the 2007–2009 recession. Unlike most previous work, we analyze data that connects men’s and women’s employment status to that of their spouses. A difference-in-difference framework is used to characterize how labor-market outcomes for one spouse varied according to outcomes for the other. Results show that that employment rates of women whose husbands were non-employed rose significantly in the recession, while those for people in other situations held steady or fell—consistent with the view that women took on additional bread-winning responsibilities to make up for lost income. However, probabilities of non-participation did not rise by more for men with working wives than they did for other men, casting doubt on ideas that men in this situation made weaker efforts to return to work because they could count on their wives’ paychecks to support the household.     

On the sociology of women's unemployment,its neglect and significance

Although there is an extensive and varied literature on the nature and consequences of unemployment very little has been written about the experiences of jobless women. This is unfortunate since there are good sociological reasons why the reactions to job loss among women may be different from those of men. Empirical data tend to support this expectation although more research is needed and called for. Sociological studies of unemployed women could contribute to the development of theories about wage-work, family life and domestic labour. Women's unemployment also has a broader significance in that it bears directly upon theories of social stratification and social order that are central to sociological study as a whole.     

Unemployment in the Czech Republic and Development of an Expert System for Assessing Unemployment Compensation

ABSTRACT

This paper addresses contemporary problems of unemployment in the Czech Republic (finding optimal alternatives of organizational structures of services of employment agencies). Based on characteristics and knowledge of information flows of the decision making process of claimants of unemployment compensation, a prototype expert system was developed to support this decision making. Results-of this research were evaluated from two points of view-the theoretical and practical benefits.     

The Impact of Gender and Marital Status on Attitudes and Responses to Unemployment

The study examined differences in job search intensity, attitudes toward unemployment, and related responses among a sample of Israelis, based on gender and marital status (single vs. married). The findings indicate that gender-based differences were greater than those based on marital status. Regarding the impact of gender, women were more likely than men to reject jobs because of conflict with family responsibilities or unsuitable working conditions. Both men and women mentioned gender atypical characteristics of occupations as a reason for rejecting employement, although this tendency was especially prevalent among married women. Women also reported more stress reactions and decline in health as an outcome of unemployment. Regarding the impact of marital status, married men tended to seek jobs more intensively than respondents in the other research groups. Single respondents of both sexes were more likely than their married counterparts to view unemployment as a personal advantage because it gives them more time to themselves. Moreover, married respondents of both sexes were more likely to reject job offers because of conflict with family responsibilities or unsuitable working conditions. In light of the findings, practical recommendations for counselors are provided.