Life cycles incomes and relief during stages of economic hardship

Session organizer/s: Anton Svensson and Louise Cormack

Planning for old age: household savings in Sweden in the early 20th century

Session: 7

Authors: Kristina Lilja

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: The effects of pensions and other social insurance programs on household savings are much debated (Attanasio & Brugiavini 2003; Hurd et al. 2012; Feng et al. 2011). This topic is addressed in a study for Sweden, which focuses on savings in life and endowment assurances for blue-collar workers and subordinate officials. In 1914, universal public old-age pensions were introduced and the extent of occupational pensions was largely widened. This study of Swedish household budget surveys shows that public pensions stimulated savings for old age as long as the sum total of the two was insufficient for a decent retirement. The results correspond with studies of late nineteenth century France and early twentieth century Britain (Bourdieu et al. 2011; Johnson 1984).

Short-term variation in urban breadwinner incomes as a determinant for the earnings of their spouse and children: Sweden 1913-14

Session: 7

Authors: Malin Nilsson

Co-authors: Stefan Öberg

Abstract: Historical research has in recent years increased the efforts to quantify and clarify the female labor force participation. The task is made difficult by the fact that female labor force participation was often not reported in official sources. While there is no longer any doubt that most women worked and contributed to both the household and overall economy less is known about the dynamics of their labor force participation. Studies of this is also hampered by the lack of sources but it has been shown that women responded to market signals through wages both in the 19th (Horrell and Humphries 1995) and in the early 20th century (Hatton and Bailey 1993; Bean 2014). The women also responded to the incomes of their husbands by working less when the men earned more. To the extent that the women’s labor market participation was determined by the incomes of their men the women’s incomes can be said to have worked to shelter the households from income variations. Humphries (2010) instead suggests that it was the children’s work that sheltered the households from income variations. We investigate these issues using longitudinal household budget survey data collected in Sweden in the early 20th century (1913–1914). We can also follow all household incomes week by week over a full year. The research question is whether or not there was an effect on the labor force participation of women and children from short-term variations in male income.

Title of Marcus’ paper

Session: 7

Authors: Marcus Falk

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: NA

Family life cycle living standards in a pre/early industrial city: Stockholm from 1800 to 1880

Session: 4

Authors: Anton Svensson

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: Recent research has highlighted to need for a better understanding of the development of historical living standards across the family life cycle (Horrell, Humphries, Weisdorf 2022). In contemporary settings, we have a rather advanced understanding of life cycle patterns in terms of income, occupational structure, the employment rate in different institutional settings, and the mediators set in place to alleviate these fluctuations. However, we know much less about the situation in pre/early industrial societies. This severely limits our understanding of how life proceeded, not at a specific age but in a dynamic way how people in the past would go from the cradle to the grave. By following individual men and their households over time in 19th century Stockholm, we estimate changes in occupation, income, and family formation providing a more informed picture of changing living standards across the family life cycle in a pre-industrial society. These new data for Stockholm greatly expands our knowledge of how historical living standards varied across the family life course.

Life-long effects of incremental economic resources in childhood: the introduction of the first Swedish child allowance in 1938

Session: 4

Authors: Louise Cormack

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: Adverse socioeconomic circumstances in childhood are associated with long lasting negative effects on future education, income and health. Due to endogeneity, there is however limited knowledge of the causal role of parental income and economic resources in this relationship. The aim of this study is to estimate the causal effect of incremental economic resources in childhood on educational, health and socioeconomic outcomes over the full life course in 20th century Sweden. It utilizes the introduction of the first cash-based child allowances in 1938, which targeted, among others, low-income widows with children. It uses longitudinal data from the Scanian Economic Demographic Database and applies a difference-in-differences method to derive causal results. Initial findings suggest that incremental income led to improvements in school performance in the short-term, but long-lasting effects on adulthood income or survival to old age are less clear. This is possibly due to incremental economic resources only affecting living conditions instantaneously, and fading off over time, but can also be explained by the size of the allowance, how the allowance was spent, for how long it was paid out and at what ages. Ongoing analyses explore additional adulthood economic and health outcomes as well as heterogeneities in the effects.

Too sick to work: welfare benefits in early 20th century Sweden

Session: 4

Authors: Helene Castenbrandt

Co-authors: NA

Abstract: This paper looks at how individuals have overcome economic hardship by focusing on those too sick to work in early 20th century Sweden. The current design of Swedish sickness benefit has long been debated, with several reforms being made partly in relation to statistics showing at times high sickness rates for Sweden in relation to other comparable countries. Sickness rates are, however, highly governed by how a country have chosen to handle welfare benefits in relation to those being long-term ill, something that has historical roots. Sickness benefit in Sweden has its origins both in the sickness fund movement and the national pension system. Sickness funds were voluntary and often membership run organisations that began to expand in the decades leading up to the turn of the century 1900, while the 1913 pension system was grounded on universalism and had a focus on disability rather than on old age. The two forms of insurance can be seen as complementary, where sickness funds were to provide financial compensation for shorter illnesses, while the disability pension was implemented for those who became permanently ill. However, the extent of the two insurances was on several levels far from satisfactory and reforms were constantly discussed. In addition, many people that fell ill still had to rely on the old poor relief system. This paper addresses the question of boundaries between the different forms of economic support to workers who could no longer support themselves due to illness, and asks questions such as for whom and for what these insurances where used. The analysis uses individual level data on people that received disability pension, sickness benefit and/or poor relief in the 1920s and 1930s together with qualitative data on the organisation of these insurances. Data is collected from the city of Landskrona.