Abstract: In response to the pandemic recession, the 2020 CARES Act expanded eligibility and payments for Unemployment Insurance (UI). UI and the CARES Act may be more salient for people with disabilities than for those without disabilities given their higher rates of job loss, lower personal and family incomes, and greater obstacles in finding jobs. Using March 2008-2023 CPS data, we find: 1) disability is linked to higher UI receipt and UI values as a percent of personal and family incomes; 2) the CARES UI supplement had especially favorable effects on incomes and poverty status for workers with disabilities in 2020; and 3) workers with disabilities who receive UI are especially likely to be employed the following March, an effect that may have been magnified by the CARES UI supplement. The results suggest that UI may play a salutary role in maintaining the health and job readiness of workers with disabilities.
Abstract: The employment of people with disabilities may be especially affected by changes in the minimum wage and the availability of subminimum wages, given their higher likelihood of working at or below minimum wage levels compared to those without disabilities. In this paper, we use American Community Survey data over the 2010-2023 period to estimate the effects of state minimum wage increases and subminimum wage terminations on employment outcomes for people with disabilities, using a stacked difference-in-difference design and the Callaway and Sant'Anna (2021) method. We do not find strong evidence of a differential effect of state minimum wage increases on the employment outcomes of people with disabilities. We find that termination of subminimum wages increases employment of people with more severe disabilities who are most likely to work at a subminimum wage, likely explained by the implementation of 'Employment First" training policies that are often paired with the terminations.
Abstract: This study examines the impact of the 2015 earthquake on internal and international migration in Nepal. Using ground shake intensity and death severity as measures of earthquake impact, I employ a series of difference-in-difference equations to estimate the impact using two different data sets. The results across both measures and datasets show a decline in international migration after the earthquake in the affected districts, particularly to India and among men. The probability that men in the affected districts migrate internationally after the earthquake is lower by 4.1% and to India by 4.8%. The impact of the earthquake on internal migration is minimal.
Abstract: Nepal has a long history of sending young men to serve as Gurkhas in the British Army. In 2004, British Gurkha retirees after 1997 were allowed to settle in the UK, and in 2007, they became eligible for the same pension system as the British Armed Forces. These policy changes made recruitment in the British Army more attractive, particularly for the Gurkha ethnic groups in Nepal. This paper examines how these policies affected the education of young men in Nepal who were not recruited but may have changed their education decisions in response to these opportunities. Using data from the 2021 Nepal Census, I explore how these changes influenced educational outcomes for the non-recruited youths in Gurkha ethnic groups compared to youths from non-Gurkha ethnic groups.