Household budget management and women’s position in peasant families in the Polish lands in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

This article attempts to answer the question about the position of women in Polish peasant families in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries based on the memoirs of rural women. Contrary to the claim that taking control over the household budget gave women more power on the farm, memoirs of peasant women show that it was rather an additional duty and responsibility. This problem mainly affected low-income families, where income from typically male activities was insufficient, so homemakers supported the family from the female part of the farm: gardening and dairy production. Thus, despite the decisive importance of women’s earnings for the household budget, their power in the family had only a symbolic dimension.

Interest-Free Microfinance Arrangements and Its Impact on the Livelihood of Women in India

Objective –The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of interest-free microfinance arrangements on the livelihood of women in India. Studies reveal that the existence of interest-free microfinance, as well as its outcome on the livelihood of weaker sections of society (particularly women), overall improved their well-being. Methodology –Exploratory and cross-section analysis is used to understand the satisfaction level among non- conventional microfinance arrangements. Survey of non-conventional microfinance beneficiaries exposes the status of women’s’ earnings, financial literacy, skills development, employment generation, household savings and poverty alleviation. Findings–Interest-free microfinance products like Zakat, Sadaqah, and KarzeHasna will successfully meet micro- financing core objectives of poverty alleviation, women empowerment, gender equality, prosperity, and employment. The analysis showed that the performance of interest-free microfinance consumers is better than conventional microfinance consumers. Novelty –This study is an original which is based on the demographic, sociocultural and regulatory framework of interest-free micro finance systems to identify the acceptability in the Indian financial system. The discussions in the study are mainly concerned with the empirical review of the impact and effect of interest-free microfinance on the lifestyle of female microfinance users after obtaining a loan i.e., their income, expenditure, saving, entrepreneurship, consumption, and women participation in earning income in India. Type of Paper: Empirical JEL Classification: G20, G21. Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Livelihood; Education Development; Living Standards; Women Empowerment

Real wage growth in the U.S. health workforce and the narrowing of the gender pay gap

Background Healthcare has been identified as a job engine during recent recessions in the U.S. Whether the healthcare sector provides better than average pay remains a question. This study investigates if wages grew with the expanding demand for healthcare workers between 2001 and 2017. Wage growth in the (1) physicians and surgeons, (2) nurse, (3) healthcare practitioner and technical, (4) healthcare support, and (5) direct patient care jobs are examined. The gender pay gap in each occupation is investigated. Methods The American Community Survey (ACS) public use microdata sample (PUMS) for 2001, 2004, 2008, 2013, and 2017 were used to derive hourly wages for full-time, full-year workers aged 18–75. The cumulative percent change in unadjusted, median hourly wages between 2001 and 2017 was calculated for each occupation. Quantile regression estimates predicted a median hourly wage for men and women by year and job after adjusting for differences in demographics, industry, and hours worked. Results Unadjusted median wage growth was 9.92% for nurses, 5.68% for healthcare practitioners, and 37.6% for physicians between 2001 and 2017. These rates are roughly above the estimated national rate of wage growth at the 50th wage percentile. In healthcare support and direct patient care occupations, workers experienced either stagnant or negative wage growth. Women had lower occupational wages than men. Conclusion The slow or negative median wage growth in all but the physician occupation between 2004–2008 and 2008–2013 confirms that healthcare wages in the U.S. are not recession-proof, unlike healthcare employment. Generally, women's earnings grew at rates that were higher or less negative than rates for men. This trend contributed to narrowing the gender pay gap in every occupation except for nurse.

How Robust are Estimates of Intergenerational Income Mobility?

Rising inequalities in rich countries have led to concerns that the economic ladder is getting harder to climb. It is well established that intergenerational income mobility is lower in countries with high inequality, but research on trends in mobility finds conflicting results. Motivated by this uncertainty, we ask: how important are choices of specification for levels and trends in intergenerational income associations? We use Swedish data on cohorts born 1958–1977 and their parents. Varying how, when and for whom income is measured, we estimate 1,658,880 different associations (82,944 specifications across 20 cohorts). Our results reveal that model choice is an underrecognized source of variation in intergenerational mobility research. The most consistent contributor to trends is the advancement of women in the labor market, which leads to increased persistence in women’s earnings and the family income of both men and women. Depending on specification, it is possible to conclude that income mobility is increasing, decreasing, or remaining flat. Despite variability, our results are broadly consistent with the received view that the level of mobility in Sweden is high in a comparative perspective.

Bridges or Barriers? The Relationship between Immigrants’ Early Labor Market Adversities and Long-term Earnings

Using data from the Extended Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC-IMDB), this article investigates the association between early adverse labor market experiences in the host country and immigrants’ long-term earnings. We use Growth Curve Modeling (GCM) to estimate how months of joblessness, part-time status, and occupational mismatch during the first four years in Canada relate to immigrant men’s and women’s earnings trajectories over the following 10 years. Part-time employment, we find, is negatively associated with long-term earnings trajectories for both male and female immigrants, and male immigrants who are occupationally mismatched in the medium term also face a long-term wage penalty. Months of joblessness early on, however, is associated with relatively less wage disadvantage in later years. Since immigrants’ early difficulties are associated with long-term economic scarring, it is imperative to introduce early interventions to promote rapid assimilation.