Mom or Dad
Who will change the “baby?” Examining the power of gender in an experimental setting
Leanne Roncolato & Alex Roomets
Review of Economics of the Household, September 2020, Pages 823-852
Abstract:
We conduct an experiment designed to test the impact of a gender-loaded frame on the distribution of labor between care and market work. In an unframed treatment, one activity is labeled a “Multiplication Activity” and a second activity is labeled a “Monitoring Activity”. In a framed treatment, these same activities are labeled as an “Employment Activity” and a “Care Activity”. A difference between these treatments should come from the labeling of the activities, and not the nature of the activities. We find that men are more likely than women to fail at the monitoring/care activity in the framed treatment when both activities are done simultaneously by one individual for the first time. During paired rounds, we find that, in the framed treatment, women in mixed-gender pairs are more likely to specialize in monitoring/care and men are more likely to specialize in multiplication/employment. We do not find this in the unframed treatment. Our design controls for factors typically used to explain the gendered distribution of work, such as differences in earnings, income, or human capital.
The Minimum Wage and Fathers’ Residence with Children
Allison Dwyer Emory et al.
Journal of Family and Economic Issues, September 2020, Pages 472-491
Abstract:
The minimum wage is an important determinant of earnings among lower-skilled parents and may have implications for their children’s living arrangements. We used nationally representative data to examine associations between the minimum wage and fathers’ residence with their biological children. Results revealed no association between the minimum wage and father residence among all low-income families. However, this finding masks important heterogeneity within these families based on which parent’s earnings were sensitive to minimum wage levels. In families where only fathers’ earnings were sensitive to minimum wage levels, fathers were more likely to live with their children as minimum wages increased, consistent with research that shows the importance of economic stability for fathers’ residence and custody arrangements. In contrast, in families where only mothers’ earnings were sensitive to minimum wage levels, higher minimum wages were negatively associated with fathers’ residence, consistent with theories of maternal independence. These associations with residence were not observed in situations where both parents’ earnings were sensitive to the minimum wage. Results indicate that these economic policies may be consequential for family processes and well-being in key subsets of low-earning families.
Breast Is (Viewed as) Best: Demonstrating Formula Feeding Stigma
Corinne Moss-Racusin et al.
Psychology of Women Quarterly, forthcoming
Abstract:
Experimental research has not examined possible formula feeding stigma. We explored whether mothers encounter stigma resulting from infant feeding method and if formula feeding stigma is impacted by whether this feeding method was intended or unintended. Experiment 1 (N = 252) exposed participants to a social media post in which a mother described intentionally breastfeeding, formula feeding, or did not mention a feeding method (control). Results provided the first experimental evidence of formula feeding stigma; the formula feeding mother was viewed less positively than the identical breastfeeding and control mothers, who were typically not perceived differently than one another. Experiment 2 (N = 388) added conditions in which feeding methods were unintended. When feeding methods were intended, results replicated Experiment 1. However, when feeding methods were unintended, the pattern fully reversed; unintended formula feeders were viewed more positively than unintended breast-feeders. Further, women who formula fed were penalized when they did so intentionally, while those who breastfed were penalized when they did so unintentionally. This suggests that formula feeding stigma stems primarily from perceptions of feeding intentions (rather than the belief that breast milk is superior) because mothers who planned to formula feed were viewed more negatively than those who planned to breastfeed, regardless of whether babies actually received formula or breast milk. These results imply that caregivers, health care providers, and policy makers should be mindful of the potential for pro-breastfeeding rhetoric to be associated with formula feeding stigma (with potential consequences for the health of women and infants) and consider implementing interventions designed to reduce stigma and promote awareness of the safety and utility of proper formula use.
Child Effects on Parental Negativity: The Role of Heritable and Prenatal Factors
Chang Liu et al.
Child Development, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study examined two possible mechanisms, evocative gene-environment correlation and prenatal factors, in accounting for child effects on parental negativity. Participants included 561 children adopted at birth, and their adoptive parents and birth parents within a prospective longitudinal adoption study. Findings indicated child effects on parental negativity, such that toddlers’ negative reactivity at 18 months was positively associated with adoptive parents’ over‐reactive and hostile parenting at 27 months. Furthermore, we found that child effects on parental negativity were partially due to heritable (e.g., birth mother [BM] internalizing problems and substance use) and prenatal factors (e.g., BM illicit drug use during pregnancy) that influence children’s negative reactivity at 18 months. This study provides critical evidence for “child on parent” effects.
Foreclosed American Dream? Parental Foreclosure and Young Adult Children’s Homeownership
Yilan Xu
Journal of Family and Economic Issues, September 2020, Pages 458-471
Abstract:
In this study, I investigated the homeownership decisions of young adult children who experienced parental foreclosure. Results from a linear probability model using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics showed that young adults were less likely to become homeowners following parental foreclosure and that foreclosures between 2009 and 2011 had the strongest negative effects. Young adults who lived in low-foreclosure states, who lived outside their parents’ county, and who were more financially prepared were affected more. This evidence suggests that the parental foreclosure effect was unlikely to operate through common economic shocks at the state or county level or through parental financial transfers, implying potential psychological effects of parental foreclosure. These findings reveal an intergenerational correlation of negative housing experiences and highlight the importance of designing and providing counseling services not only for owners of foreclosed homes but also for their family members.
Intergenerational Altruism and Retirement Transfers: Evidence from the Social Security Notch
Anita Mukherjee
Journal of Human Resources, forthcoming
Abstract:
I contribute new evidence on altruistic preferences in intergenerational transfers using variation in Social Security benefits induced by an inflation-indexing mistake. The instrument is most relevant for those with low education, so I focus on this group. I find support for pure altruism because individuals who received additional Social Security benefits passed on 15.4 percent to children via inter vivos transfers without receiving any additional care in return. On the contrary, children reduce caregiving monotonically with increases in parental Social Security benefits. Adult female children appear to be the most affected as they both receive monetary transfers and reduce caregiving.
Adaptive Memory: Generality of the Parent Processing Effect and Effects of Biological Relatedness on Recall
Benjamin Seitz, Cody Polack & Ralph Miller
Evolutionary Psychological Science, September 2020, Pages 246-260
Abstract:
The adaptive memory framework posits that human memory is an evolved cognitive feature, in which stimuli relevant to fitness are better remembered than neutral stimuli. There is now substantial evidence that processing a neutral stimulus in terms of its relevancy to an imagined ancestral survival scenario enhances recall, although there is still disagreement concerning the proximate mechanisms responsible for this effect. Several other mnemonic biases have recently been discovered that similarly appear to reflect evolutionary pressures, including a bias to remember items relevant to an imagined parenting scenario. We tested the generality of this parent processing effect by varying the biological relatedness of the imagined child. We also varied the biological relatedness of a child during an imagined third-person survival processing scenario. Across four experiments, we found evidence that simply altering the described biological relatedness of a child in the parenting scenario and third-person survival processing scenario can affect recall, such that items are better remembered when made relevant to a biological child compared to an adopted child. How these findings inform the general adaptive memory framework is discussed.