Download full text
(765.9Kb)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-95232-7
Exports for your reference manager
Does Fixed-Term Employment Have Spillover Effects on the Well-Being of Partners? A Panel Data Analysis for East and West Germany
[journal article]
Abstract This paper answers three research questions: What is the impact of fixed-term employment on the well-being of partners? How do these spillover effects differ by gender, and do gender differences depend on socialization in East or West Germany? Do individual well-being, perceived job insecurity, and ... view more
This paper answers three research questions: What is the impact of fixed-term employment on the well-being of partners? How do these spillover effects differ by gender, and do gender differences depend on socialization in East or West Germany? Do individual well-being, perceived job insecurity, and financial worries mediate the spillover effects? We use longitudinal data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), 1995-2017, and a sample of heterosexual couples living together, to estimate fixed-effects panel regression models. In contrast to previous studies, we consider asymmetric effects of entering and leaving fixed-term contracts by focusing on transitions from unemployment into fixed-term and fixed-term into permanent jobs. Confirming previous research on spillover effects of unemployment, we find that fixed-term re-employment increases partners' well-being and that these effects are larger in case of re-employment by men and partners' socialization in West Germany. We also show that transitions from fixed-term to permanent jobs do not substantially increase the well-being of partners with little differences by gender and place of socialization. While the spillover effect of re-employment is mediated by changes in the well-being of the individual re-entering the labor market, changes in job insecurity and financial worries due to transitions from fixed-term to permanent jobs are too small to produce meaningful effects on well-being. Although fixed-term contracts have been referred to as a new source of inequality, our results show that they cause little difference in the well-being of individuals and their partners and that finding a job matters more than the type of contract.... view less
Keywords
well-being; Federal Republic of Germany; term contract; gender-specific factors; partnership
Classification
Sociology of Work, Industrial Sociology, Industrial Relations
Family Sociology, Sociology of Sexual Behavior
Free Keywords
fixed-term employment; mediation analysis; panel data; spillover effects
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 3001-3021
Journal
Journal of Happiness Studies, 22 (2021)
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00353-2
ISSN
1573-7780
Status
Published Version