SRRD_2018_18.pdf (1.33 MB)
Cash-for-Care use and Union Dissolution in Finland
preprint
posted on 2018-06-23, 09:43 authored by Kathrin MorosowKathrin Morosow, Marika JalovaaraMarika Jalovaara, Juho HärkönenJuho HärkönenAbstract: Prominent theories have long suggested that couples’
gendered division of labor decreases the risk of separation. Family policies such
as the Finnish cash-for-care (CFC) benefit, which is paid if a young child does
not attend public daycare, may encourage a gendered division of labor, at least
temporarily. Using Finnish register data, this study examines the effect of receiving
the CFC benefit on the short- and long-term risks of separation. Discrete-time
event history analyses suggest a lower separation risk while the benefit is
taken, but no effect in the long term. Fixed-effects models for non-repeated
events indicate postponement of separation during benefit take-up, as well as selection
into longer periods of CFC use for couples with higher latent propensity to
separate. It is concluded that the CFC benefit use, signaling a gendered
division of labor, predicts a lower separation risk during receipt of the benefit
but not beyond that period.