Midis de la recherche

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Gabriele Mari (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

The Timing of Parental Unemployment, Insurance, and Children's Education in the Netherlands

It is not unusual for children to live with at least one parent facing unemployment. We assess whether and how parental unemployment can affect children’s education within the Dutch context, an excellent case study given its early sorting of students in different tracks at the end of primary school, as well as wide wealth disparities and changing policies of income support. We rely on administrative quarterly data on cohorts born between 1992 and 1998. We find that a spell of paternal unemployment just before the high-stakes test in Grade 8 decreases children’s chances of enrolling in the general track, but only in families with lower relative wealth. A 2006 reform increasing unemployment benefits seems to have not affected this pattern. Similarly, paternal unemployment around high-school graduation lowers children’s chances of university enrolment, especially in families with lower relative wealth. A 2015 reform that replaced grants with loans to finance university expenses appears to have exacerbated this pattern. We provide several suggestions for “intergenerational targeting” of policies directed to families facing unemployment.