Category Archives: Wellbeing/Satisfaction

Stung by Pension Reforms: The Impact of a Change in State Pension Age on Women and their Partners

In many developed countries, pension systems are being reformed by increasing the age eligibility to receive the state pension and by reducing its generosity. The aim of these reforms has been to improve the financial sustainability of the system by encouraging people to work at older ages. However, these reforms also tend to have negative effects on wellbeing and to increase in inequality based for example on level of education and on family structure.

Our research focuses on the effect that the increase in the UK state pension age had on women born in the 1950s.  We found that the increase in the state pension age had the desired effect of keeping more women in the labour market (either employed, self-employed or seeking work), but also had negative effects on their mental health and on other aspects of wellbeing.  The reform had a more negative impact on more vulnerable women, for example, it had a larger negative impact on mental and financial wellbeing of women without a degree (compared to women with a degree), and of women without (compared to women with) a partner.

Della Giusta, M., Longhi S. (2021) Stung by Pension Reforms: The Unequal Impact of Changes in State Pension Age on UK Women and their Partners, Labour Economics, 72:102049.

Unhappiness in Unemployment: Is it the Same for Everyone?

Many studies have shown that there is a general tendency for men’s subjective wellbeing to be more badly affected by unemployment when compared to women, although the extent varies across countries. The existing literature notes the gender differences and offers possible explanations, but does not formally compare competing hypotheses. We analyse whether gender differences in life satisfaction associated with the experience of unemployment can be attributed to degrees of specialisation in the labour market, differences in the types of work undertaken by men and women, differences in personality traits, work identity or gender norms. We find that it is not all, but some, women who suffer less than men when experiencing a transition into unemployment. The experience of unemployment for women is differentiated by pay, work identity and, most powerfully, gender attitudes.

Longhi S., Nandi A., Bryan M., Connolly S. Gedikli C. (2018) Unhappiness in Unemployment: Is it the Same for Everyone?  Sheffield Economic Research Paper Series no. 2018007.
Also appeared as a Research Report on Gender and Unemployment for the What Works Wellbeing Centre.

Cultural Diversity and Subjective Wellbeing

This paper analyses the impact that diversity has on life satisfaction of people living in England. In England, and in many other countries, local communities are becoming more diverse in terms of country of birth, ethnicity and religion of residents, with unclear consequences on the well-being of people living in these communities. The results suggest that white British people living in diverse areas have on average lower levels of life satisfaction than those living in areas where diversity is low, while there is no correlation on average between diversity and life satisfaction for non-white British people and foreign born.

Longhi S. (2014) Cultural Diversity and Subjective Wellbeing, IZA Journal of Migration, 2014, 3:13.

Occupational Change in Britain and Germany

We use British and German panel data to analyse job changes involving a change in occupation. We assess: (1) the extent of occupational change, taking into account the possibility of measurement error in occupational codes; (2) whether job changes within the occupation differ from occupation changes in terms of the characteristics of those making such switches; and (3) the effects of the two kinds of moves in respect of wages and job satisfaction. We find that occupation changes differ from other job changes, generally reflecting a less satisfactory employment situation, but also that the move in both cases is positive in respect of change in wages and job satisfaction.

Longhi S., Brynin M. (2010) Occupational Change in Britain and Germany, Labour Economics, 17 (4): 655-666.