Unemployment and domestic violence: theory and evidence

Anderberg, D., Rainer, H., Wadsworth, J. and Wilson, T. (2016) Unemployment and domestic violence: theory and evidence. Economic Journal, 126(597), pp. 1947-1979. (doi: 10.1111/ecoj.12246)

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Abstract

Does rising unemployment really increase domestic violence as many commentators expect? The contribution of this article is to examine how changes in unemployment affect the incidence of domestic abuse. Theory predicts that male and female unemployment have opposite‐signed effects on domestic abuse: an increase in male unemployment decreases the incidence of intimate partner violence, while an increase in female unemployment increases domestic abuse. Combining data on intimate partner violence from the British Crime Survey with locally disaggregated labour market data from the UK's Annual Population Survey, we find strong evidence in support of the theoretical prediction.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Wilson, Dr Tanya
Authors: Anderberg, D., Rainer, H., Wadsworth, J., and Wilson, T.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
Journal Name:Economic Journal
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:0013-0133
ISSN (Online):1468-0297
Published Online:06 February 2015

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