Families under pressure: Consequences for the Children.
Funded by The Independent Research Fund Denmark, 2018-2024
Project Description
This collective research project uses Danish register-based data to empirically analyze the consequences of family exposure to economic conditions that tighten families’ budget constraints, while drawing on insights and approaches from labor and family economics. We ask: “how do children fare when families experience economic pressure?”. To cover both policy and market-generated pressure, we study two stressors anchored in recent events: first, via substantial policy-induced reductions in benefit generosity for Danes out of work, and next, through market-driven financial distress among homeowners.
Participants
Marianne Simonsen, Aarhus University (PI)
Helena Skyt Nielsen, Aarhus University
Lars Skipper, Aarhus University
Christina Munkholm Andersen
Research output
Main papers
Andersen, C., M. A. Houmark, H. S. Nielsen and M. Svarer (2022), Children in the Aftermath of the Great Recession. Nationaløkonomisk Tidsskrift - Danish Journal of Economics.
Andersen, C. M. (forthcoming): Consequences of a Welfare Benefit Reduction for Refugee Families on Children's School Absence and Crime, Education Economics
Simonsen, M., L. Skipper and J. A. Smith: Welfare Reform: Consequences for the Children. Available via arXiv:2506.03927 [econ.GN]
Simonsen, M., L. Skipper and J. A. Smith: Effects of Welfare Reform: the Role of Barriers to Work. Work in progress.
PhD thesis:
Andersen, C. M. (2025): Families under Pressure: Evidence from Financial and Environment Shocks during Childhood.
Spin-off projects:
Simonsen, M. and L. Skipper (2025): Service Navigation: Evaluating Integrated Social Care for Marginalized Families. Work in progress.
Other activities associated with the project
Jeff Smith Department of Economics and Business Economics distinguished speaker seminar: https://econ.au.dk/research/seminars/distinguished-speaker-seminar-series
Jeff Smith Aarhus University honorary doctor: https://bss.au.dk/en/aarhus-bss-nyheder/show/artikel/jeffrey-andrew-smith-er-udnaevnt-til-aeresdoktor
Jeff Smith Danish research network for graduate students in economics PhD course 2022: Topics in the Applied Econometrics of Program Evaluation
2019-2020: Simonsen and Skipper visiting scholars at University of Wisconsin-Madison (funded by AUFF and TrygFonden's Center for Child Research)
The German Institute for Employment Research (iab.de): Interview on "Effects of Welfare Reform: the Role of Barriers to Work".
Seminar, workshop, and conference presentations (selected): The 5th Family and Education Workshop, the 2020 Copenhagen Education Network Workshop, the 2021 IRP Summer Research Workshop, the 2021 IIPF Annual Congress, the 2022 CESifo Area Conference on Economics of Education, the 2023 Canadian Economic Association Meeting, SOFI, IFN, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Stavanger University, the German Institute for Employment Research, and Aarhus University