Economic Uncertainty and the Family (EcUFam)

Tasks

Can changes in the fertility decisions of couples be attributed to demand-induced changes in labour market opportunities? Are people more likely to marry in recessions or in booms? Does youth unemployment affect intergenerational relations? To improve our understanding of the relationship between business cycles and family-related decisions in Europe, ifo has set up the working group EcUFam (Economic Uncertainty and the Family). Deploying a variety of methods and datasets, the group will conduct research into the extent and importance of economic uncertainty as induced by poor macroeconomic conditions for key family outcomes including fertility, marriage and divorce, intergenerational relationships, gender-role attitudes and infant health. The working group is located at the ifo Institute, but both the scope of its research and its scientific network will be European, with project partners and supporting institutions in Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Methods

The relationship between economic uncertainty and family-related decisions will be investigated deploying a variety of econometric methods and theoretical models.