Martin Kreidl

Perceptions of Poverty and Wealth in Western and Post-Communist Countries

This paper analyzes the felt legitimacy of poverty and wealth in the United States, West Germany, The Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Russia. Several theories on poverty and wealth perception are discussed; of these, dominant ideology theory has been the most influential. This theory can predict the existence not only of a legitimizing ideology in a society, but also of challenging beliefs that incumbents of specific social positions hold. It is argued that poverty and wealth perceptions are more complex, however, involving at least three latent dimensions. Using data from the International Social Justice Project it is demonstrated that, regarding poverty, individuals distinguish between merited, unmerited, and fatalistic types of poverty. Merited poverty is poverty brought about by the individuals own doing or not doing, unmerited poverty is due to forces external to the individual, whereas fatalistic explanations attribute poverty to ascribed properties of the individual. For wealth also there are three causally relevant factors: in addition to merited und unmerited ones, a social capital factor that sees social contacts as a source for determining economic success. Using a structural equation approach and its group comparison option for comparing countries, the different explanations of poverty and wealth are translated into specific measurement models. Testing simultaneously with linear regression models show how preferences for particular explanations are shaped by stratification-related experiences and by the social position of an observer.

Full-time versus part-time employment: Does it influence frequency of grandparental childcare?

Abstract The impact of grandparents’ employment on grandparental childcare has been examined repeatedly, but the findings have so far been inconsistent. We contend that these inconsistencies may have resulted from variations in model specification and crude measurement of employment status. Furthermore, we assert that earlier research overlooked gender differences in the ability to combine paid employment and caregiving as well as variations between maternal and paternal grandparents. We also question the causal interpretation of earlier findings that were based on cross-sectional data. We revisit the issue of the impact of the intensity of employment and analyze SHARE data from 19 countries. We find a significant positive association between part-time employment (as compared to full-time employment) and the frequency of grandparental childcare in a cross-sectional sample, but only among paternal grandmothers. Capitalizing on the panel component of SHARE, we use a within-person estimator to show that this association is unlikely to reflect a causal effect of the intensity of labor market attachment on the frequency of the care of grandchildren, but more probably results from omitted variable bias. We argue that grandparents most likely to provide (intensive) childcare are also most likely to adjust their employment in anticipation of caregiving. The paper documents the usefulness of role strain theory among grandparents and highlights that part-time jobs may reduce role conflict and may thus make grandparenting a more easily manageable experience.

Rising Rates of Cohabitation and the Odds of Repartnering : Does the Gap between Men and Women Disappear?

ABSTRACT Men are more likely to repartner than women. This pattern might reflect gender disparities in barriers to repartnering. When rates of cohabitation increase, the gender disparity might shrink, as cohabitation is a less institutionalized form of coresidential partnership and therefore has lower entry barriers in comparison to marriage. Using event-history models applied to Czech data from the Generations and Gender Survey, we show that the odds of repartnering were indeed higher among men than among women in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. No significant change in the gender effect, however, was found. Similarly, the analysis revealed no change in the effect of gender on the odds of entering cohabitation rather than marriage.

Partnership Trajectories of Mothers without a Co-residential Partner

V textu analyzujeme partnerske drahy pravorodicek, ktere v době narozeni sveho prvniho ditěte neměly koresidencniho partnera. Použivame retrospektivni udaje o partnerske draze z výzkumu Generations and gender z roku 2005 a sledujeme, zda (a jak rychle) po narozeni ditěte vstoupily do koresidencniho partnerstvi. Testujeme tak, pomoci analýzy přežiti, hypotezy odvozene z individualizacni teorie. Ukazujeme, že pravděpodobnost vstupu do koresidencniho partnerstvi vzrostla napřic kohortami - z 25 % v nejstarsi kohortě až na 75 % v nejmladsi kohortě. Mladsi solomatky maji větsi pravděpodobnost vstoupit do partnerstvi. Vzdělanějsi solomatky maji větsi pravděpodobnost zůstat mimo koresidencni partnerstvi a efekt vzdělani roste napřic kohortami- může reflektovat rostouci rostouci touhu i schopnost zůstat solo.We investigate partnership transitions of mothers who had no coresidential partner at the time of birth of their fi rst child (‘solo mothers’). Using retrospective partnership and co-residence histories from the Czech 2005 GGS, we investigate mothers’ entry into the fi rst subsequent co-residential partnership using event history methods. We test several hypotheses derived from the individualisation theory. While approximately one half of ‘solo mothers’ had no co-residential partner at the time they had their fi rst child, almost 50% of them did enter a co-residential partnership subsequently. The probability of transitioning into a co-residential partnership increased over cohorts. Whereas about 25% of solo mothers from the oldest cohort (fi rst child born before entered a co-residential partnership with the 20 years after having their fi rst child), in the youngest cohort the fi gure was almost two-thirds. The highest odds are among very young solo mothers. Well-educated solo mothers are more likely to remain without a co-residential partner and the effect of education increases over cohorts, perhaps refl ecting their growing ability and willingness to remain solo.

Mobilita mezi zaměstnaností a nezaměstnaností u starších pracovníků v ČR.

There is a sharp discrepancy between the emphasis being placed on active ageing and labour market participation in older age and the high unemployment rates observed among older workers. Cross-sectional data in the Czech Republic consistently present evidence of job insecurity and employment vulnerability in older age groups. Aggregated data and statistical indices do not, however, offer a suffi ciently detailed picture of the social processes (e.g. exit from the labour market, duration of unemployment, and exit from unemployment) behind the numbers. This article takes a dynamic look at the position of older workers in the labour market by investigating transitions between employment and unemployment using a sub-sample of older workers (50 year and over) from the Czech EU-SILC, who were interviewed repeatedly in a panel survey between 2004 and 2009. The authors use survival analysis methods to study the time-dependence of transitions into and out of unemployment and both with and without covariates. The results suggest that older workers are not at a higher risk of exiting the labour market (compared to other age groups), but once they are unemployed, their odds of getting back into employment are signifi cantly lower. Even when controls (such as education level) are included in the model this disadvantage persists. Interestingly, while education generally protects people from labour market exit, this protective effect is weaker among older workers.There is a sharp discrepancy between the emphasis being placed on active ageing and labour market participation in older age and the high unemployment rates observed among older workers. Cross-sectional data in the Czech Republic consistently present evidence of job insecurity and employment vulnerability in older age groups. Aggregated data and statistical indices do not, however, offer a sufficiently detailed picture of the social processes (e.g. exit from the labour market, duration of unemployment, and exit from unemployment) behind the numbers. This article takes a dynamic look at the position of older workers in the labour market by investigating transitions between employment and unemployment using a sub-sample of older workers (50 year and over) from the Czech EU-SILC, who were interviewed repeatedly in a panel survey between 2004 and 2009. The authors use survival analysis methods to study the time-dependence of transitions into and out of unemployment and both with and without covariates. The results suggest that older workers are not at a higher risk of exiting the labour market (compared to other age groups), but once they are unemployed, their odds of getting back into employment are significantly lower. Even when controls (such as education level) are included in the model this disadvantage persists. Interestingly, while education generally protects people from labour market exit, this protective effect is weaker among older workers.

Proč rozvedení dědečkové pečují méně často o svá vnoučata

Grandparents are becoming increasingly important figures in the lives of their grandchildren and are often in the position of care providers. However, divorced grandparents and grandfathers in particular are less likely to provide care for their grandchildren. This article examines the reasons for this. Drawing on the literature on this subject, the authors first argue that divorced grandfathers are less likely than their married counterparts both to provide care and to provide care often. This may be because compared to married grandfathers they tend to: (1) have a larger number of children and grandchildren (because they often repartner after divorce); (2) live farther away from their offspring; (3) have less frequent contact with their offspring; and (4) be in poorer health. Using Czech SHARE (Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe) data from waves two and four, the authors show that divorced grandfathers in the Czech Republic are less likely to care for their grandchildren and provide frequent care primarily owing to the fact that they have less frequent contact with their children. The authors found no support for the assumption that the negative effect of divorce can be explained by the number of children or grandchildren divorced grandparents have, by their geographical distance from offspring or by their subjective health.