The long shadow of labor market entry conditions: Intergenerational determinants of mental health
利用澳大利亚各州和出生队列在进入劳动力市场时的失业率差异，发现父母进入劳动力市场时遭遇的失业冲击会通过损害其中年心理健康，进而影响女儿青春期的心理健康，但对儿子无显著影响。
What determines long-term mental health and its intergenerational correlation? Exploiting variation in unemployment rates upon labor market entry across Australian states and cohorts, we provide novel evidence that the mental health of daughters is affected by the labor market entry conditions of their parents. In particular, a one standard deviation shock to the unemployment rate upon parental labor market entry worsens daughters’ mental health during adolescence by 11% of a standard deviation. This effect is accompanied by lower levels of satisfaction with their health, financial situation, safety, and overall life. A mediation analysis suggests that a sizable proportion (24%) of the impacts on the descendants’ mental health is explained by the worse mental health of their parents at mid-life. We do not detect any systematic impact of parental labor market entry conditions among sons.