Dynamic Impacts of Lockdown on Domestic Violence: Evidence from Multiple Policy Shifts in Chile
with Sonia Bhalotra, Damian Clarke, Pilar Larroulet, and Francisco Pino
The Review of Economics and Statistics 2024 [link]
Presented at NBER (The Economics of Caregiving), ASSA Annual Meeting, FROGEE Dimensions of Wellbeing, IHEA Congress, IEN of LACEA Meeting
Abstract: We leverage staggered implementation of lockdown across Chile’s 346 municipalities, identifying dynamic impacts on domestic violence (DV). Using administrative data, we find lockdown imposition increases indicators of DV-related distress, while decreasing DV reports to the police. We identify male job loss as a mechanism driving distress, and female job loss as driving decreased reporting. Stimulus payments to poor households act on both margins, their impacts partially differentiated by lockdown status. Once lockdown is lifted, police reports surge but we see a ratchet effect in distress. Our findings accentuate the controversy around welfare impacts of lockdown mandates.
Does Increasing Financial Access to Contraception in the U.S. Reduce Undesired Pregnancies? Evidence from the M-CARES Randomized Control Trial at Two Years [NBER working paper] [Conditionally accepted at AER:I]
with Martha Bailey, Deniz Gorgulu, Kelsey Figone, Vanessa W. Lang, Alexa Prettyman, and Vanessa Dalton
Abstract: We use a randomized controlled trial to examine how the costs of contraception affect method choice, pregnancy, abortion, and childbirth among U.S. women. The study recruited women seeking care through Title X—a national family planning program subsidizing reproductive health services for low-income Americans—and randomized vouchers making the full spectrum of available contraception highly discounted or free. We find that subsidizing contraception has large and persistent effects on the choice of contraceptive method, resulting in significantly fewer pregnancies and abortions within two years. Subsidizing contraception negatively affected births, but the effect was not significant at two years.
The Caregiving Penalty: Caring for Sick Parents and the Gender Pay Gap [link] [Submitted]
with Dante Contreras
Presented at ASSA Annual Meeting, PAA Annual Meeting, LACEA Annual Meeting, NYU Health Economics Day, Nebraska Labor Summit, Ridge Forum – WELAC (LACEA) Gender and Household Economics, IDB Gender and Diversity Knowledge Initiative, CAF-WELAC Workshop on Gender and Household Inequality
Abstract: The aging of the population is increasing the demand for adult caregiving. In most of the world, care for the elderly and sick is provided almost exclusively by families and, within families, by women. This paper studies the impact of adult caregiving on gender inequality in the labor market. Using administrative data from Chile, we leverage variation in a parental health shock —the first cancer hospitalization of a parent— to examine who bears the burden of adult caregiving. After a parental health shock, daughters but not sons experience a reduction in employment and earnings. A parental health shock creates a caregiving penalty —the effect of the shock on daughters relative to sons— of 11% on earnings, increasing the overall gender pay gap by 9%. These penalties affect women even if they earn more than their partners or brothers, suggesting that gender norms influence the distribution of adult caregiving. Additionally, penalties are concentrated among women who are mothers, suggesting a correlation across the life cycle between care given to children and then to aging parents.
Can Early Intervention Reduce Future Child Maltreatment? [NBER working paper] [NBER non-technical summary] [R&R at The Review of Economics and Statistics]
with Anna Aizer
Presented at ASSA 2023 Annual Meeting
Abstract: Children with a disability are 3.5 times more likely to be maltreated. Federal Early Intervention (EI) serves 426,000 children 0-3 with a disability, 3.7% of the entire population under three. EI’s objective is to support families in caring for their children’s special needs. Compared to children evaluated but ineligible for EI, children receiving EI in the first year of life are 3.3 percentage points less likely to be maltreated later in life, a decline of 45%, with smaller effects for those receiving services later. Targeting at-risk children, intervening early, and engaging with families in a cooperative manner effectively reduces future maltreatment.
Gender Composition and Group Behavior: Evidence from US City Councils [NBER working paper]
with Jesse Bruhn, Thea How-Choon, and Anna Weber
Presented at NBER SI 2023 Political Economy, ASSA 2023 Annual Meeting
Abstract: How does gender composition influence individual and group behavior? To study this question empirically, we assembled a new, national sample of United States city council elections and digitized information from the minutes of over 40,000 city-council meetings. We find that replacing a male councilor with a female councilor results in a 25p.p. increase in the share of motions proposed by women. This is despite causing only a 20p.p. increase in the council female share. The discrepancy is driven, in part, by behavioral changes similar to those documented in laboratory-based studies of gender composition. When a lone woman is joined by a female colleague, she participates more actively by proposing more motions. The apparent changes in behavior do not translate into clear differences in spending. The null finding on spending is not driven by strategic voting; however, preference alignment on local policy issues between men and women appears to play an important role. Taken together, our results both highlight the importance of nominal representation for cultivating substantive participation by women in high-stakes decision making bodies; and also provide evidence in support of the external validity of a large body of laboratory-based work on the consequences of group gender composition.
Studying Changes in Intimate Partner Violence in Latin America: A Brief Report from a Panel Survey [R&R at The Journal of Family Violence ]
with Sonia Bhalotra, Damian Clarke, Pilar Larroulet, and Francisco Pino
Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem in Latin America. However, understanding the scope and dynamics of IPV has been limited by a reliance on administrative or cross-sectional data. This limitation became especially problematic during the COVID-19 pandemic, as mobility restrictions impacted the likelihood of reporting. Drawing on a new panel database, this brief report examines changes in IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile and discusses the characteristics of these data, along with the challenges associated with data collection.
Methods: From 2021 to 2022, we collected the second wave of a national survey focused on violence against women. A final sample of over 3,000 women was obtained. A description of the sample is provided, as well as an overall assessment of changes in intimate partner violence over time.
Results: While there is substantial cross-temporal correlation in victimization, we observed a significant level of heterogeneity in the dynamics of intimate partner violence, with women transitioning out of violent relationships or between different forms of violence. The findings also suggest that the likelihood of reporting violence to the police decreased significantly during the pandemic.
Conclusions: Despite stable aggregate trends, IPV during the pandemic in Chile showed significant heterogeneity in individual-level transitions and a sharp decline in formal reporting, underscoring the value of longitudinal survey data for capturing these dynamics. Representative panel surveys provide unique insights into patterns of victimization and reporting that repeated cross-sections cannot reveal.
Labor Market Returns to Graduate Degrees: Evidence from a Scholarship Program
with Dante Contreras, and Isidora Palma
Family Health Shocks and Gender Inequality in Educational Investments
with Dante Contreras and Nicolás Libuy
The Effects of Subsidizing Contraception on Educational and Labor Market Outcomes
with Martha Bailey and Giulia Olivero
Price Elasticities of Demand for Contraception
with Martha Bailey and Giulia Olivero