Bridget Hiedemann

Economic Independence, Economic Status, and Empty Nest in Midlife Marital Disruption.

We examine the risk of separation or divorce later in the marital career from a family development perspective. With data from the [U.S.] National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women we use a hazards framework to estimate the effects of womens economic independence couples economic status and family life course factors on the risk of middle-age separation or divorce. Several dimensions of economic independence and economic status influence the risk of midlife marital disruption. Moreover the transition to empty nest influences the risk of marital disruption but the effect of empty nest depends on the duration of the marriage. This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America. (EXCERPT)

A Stackelberg model of Social Security acceptance decisions in dual career households

Abstract The joint Social Security acceptance decisions of husbands and wives are modeled as a Stackelberg game with male leadership. The analysis focuses on whether an individual accepts reduced Social Security retirement benefits prior to age 65 or full benefits at age 65 or older. Full information maximum likelihood estimates are presented for a sample of dual career households from the Retirement History Survey. The results indicate that Social Security acceptance decisions in dual career households depend on several individual and household characteristics as well as financial incentives.

Economic Evaluations of Thrombophilia Screening Prior to Prescribing Combined Oral Contraceptives: A Systematic and Critical Review

BackgroundCombined oral contraceptives (COCs) increase the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), particularly among women with inherited clotting disorders. The World Health Organization classifies combined hormonal contraception as an “unacceptable health risk” for women with thrombogenic mutations but advises against universal thrombophilia screening before prescribing COCs given the low prevalence of thrombophilia and high screening costs.ObjectiveThrough the lens of lifetime costs and benefits, this paper systematically and critically reviews all published economic evaluations of thrombophilia screening prior to prescribing COCs.MethodsWe searched relevant databases for economic evaluations of thrombophilia screening before prescribing COCs. After extracting the key study characteristics and economic variables, we evaluated each article using the Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES) and the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) instruments.ResultsSeven economic evaluations of thrombophilia screening before prescribing COCs met our inclusion criteria. Only the two economic evaluations focusing exclusively on selective screening exceeded the 75-point threshold for high-quality economic studies based on the QHES instrument, whereas only one of these exceeded the 85% CHEERS threshold. Only three of the seven economic evaluations performed sensitivity analysis on key parameters. Most studies underestimated the benefits of thrombophilia screening by comparing one-time costs of genetic screening against benefits per person-year, thus implicitly assuming a 1-year duration of COC use, neglecting the long-term implications of VTE and/or neglecting the lifetime benefits of awareness of inherited thrombophilia.ConclusionOur review highlights the lack of methodologically rigorous economic evaluations of universal thrombophilia screening before prescribing COCs.

Disability and Labor Market Earnings: Hearing Earnings Gaps in the United States

Over one million Americans aged 15 years and older are deaf or hard of hearing. These individuals may face barriers to and within the labor market, leading to lower employment rates and reduced earnings compared with their counterparts without a hearing disability. Our study contributes to the sparse literature on the relationship between hearing disability and labor market outcomes by examining “hearing earnings gaps,” namely, earnings gaps between individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and their counterparts without a hearing disability. Using a sample of 25- to 40-year-old full-time year-round workers from the 2011 American Community Survey, we estimate separate earnings equations by hearing ability and gender using generalized estimating equations. For both men and women, Blinder–Oaxaca decompositions indicate that roughly 40% of the overall hearing earnings gap is attributable to differences in educational attainment, potential experience, race/ethnicity, and marital status. The remaining 60% may reflect differences in communication skills and other unobservable characteristics, occupational segregation, labor market discrimination, and stigma.