Does Fixed-Term Employment Have Spillover Effects on the Well-Being of Partners? : A Panel Data Analysis for East and West Germany
Faculty/Professorship: | Methods of Empirical Social Research |
Author(s): | Scheuring, Sonja ![]() |
Publisher Information: | Bamberg : Otto-Friedrich-Universität |
Year of publication: | 2021 |
Pages: | 21 |
Source/Other editions: | Journal of Happiness Studies 2021. Published: 19 January 2021. ISSN 1389-4978 |
is version of: | 10.1007/s10902-020-00353-2 |
Language(s): | English |
DOI: | 10.20378/irb-50296 |
Licence: | Creative Commons - CC BY - Attribution 4.0 International |
URN: | urn:nbn:de:bvb:473-irb-502965 |
Abstract: | This paper answers three research questions: What is the impact of fixed-term employment on the well-being of partners? How do these spillover effects differ by gender, and do gender differences depend on socialization in East or West Germany? Do individual well-being, perceived job insecurity, and financial worries mediate the spillover effects? We use longitudinal data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), 1995–2017, and a sample of heterosexual couples living together, to estimate fixed-effects panel regression models. In contrast to previous studies, we consider asymmetric effects of entering and leaving fixedterm contracts by focusing on transitions from unemployment into fixed-term and fixed-term into permanent jobs. Confirming previous research on spillover effects of unemployment, we find that fixed-term re-employment increases partners’ well-being and that these effects are larger in case of re-employment by men and partners’ socialization in West Germany. We also show that transitions from fixed-term to permanent jobs do not substantially increase the well-being of partners with little differences by gender and place of socialization. While the spillover effect of re-employment is mediated by changes in the well-being of the individual re-entering the labor market, changes in job insecurity and financial worries due to transitions from fixed-term to permanent jobs are too small to produce meaningful effects on well-being. Although fixed-term contracts have been referred to as a new source of inequality, our results show that they cause little difference in the well-being of individuals and their partners and that finding a job matters more than the type of contract. |
GND Keywords: | Deutschland ; Befristeter Arbeitsvertrag ; Partnerschaft ; Zufriedenheit |
Keywords: | Fixed-term employment · Well-being · Spillover effects · Panel data · Mediation analysis · Germany |
DDC Classification: | 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology |
RVK Classification: | MS 1930 |
Peer Reviewed: | Ja |
International Distribution: | Ja |
Type: | Article |
URI: | https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/50296 |
Release Date: | 23. August 2021 |
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University of Bamberg
University of Bamberg