Parental Problem-drinking and Adult Children’s Labor Market Outcomes
利用NLSY79数据，发现父母问题饮酒与子女成年后更长的失业期、更低的工资相关，尤其对男性影响更大，并推测健康问题和酗酒可能是中间机制。
Current estimates of the societal costs of alcoholism do not consider the impact of parental drinking on children. This paper analyzes the consequences of parental problem-drinking on children’s labor market outcomes in adulthood. Using the NLSY79, I show that having a problem-drinking parent is associated with longer periods out of the labor force, lengthier unemployment, and lower wages, in particular for male respondents. Increased probabilities of experiencing health problems and abusing alcohol are speculative forces behind these effects. While causality cannot be determined due to imprecise IV estimates, the paper calls for further investigation of the intergeneration costs of problem-drinking.