Job Displacement, Unemployment Benefits and Domestic Violence

62 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2021

See all articles by Sonia Bhalotra

Sonia Bhalotra

University of Warwick

Diogo G.C. Britto

Bocconi University

Paolo Pinotti

Bocconi University - BAFFI Center on International Markets, Money, and Regulation

Breno Sampaio

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2021

Abstract

We estimate impacts of male job loss, female job loss, and male unemployment benefits on domestic violence in Brazil. We merge employer-employee and social welfare registers with administrative data on domestic violence cases brought to criminal courts, use of public shelters by victims and mandatory notifications of domestic violence by health providers. Leveraging mass layoffs for identification, we find that both male and female job loss, independently, lead to large and pervasive increases in domestic violence. Exploiting a discontinuity in unemployment insurance eligibility, we find that eligible men are not less likely to commit domestic violence while benefits are being paid, and more likely to commit it once benefits expire. Our findings are consistent with job loss increasing domestic violence on account of a negative income shock and an increase in exposure of victims to perpetrators, with unemployment benefits partially offsetting the income shock while reinforcing the exposure shock.

Suggested Citation

Bhalotra, Sonia and G.C. Britto, Diogo and Pinotti, Paolo and Sampaio, Breno, Job Displacement, Unemployment Benefits and Domestic Violence (2021). CESifo Working Paper No. 9186, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3887250 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3887250

Sonia Bhalotra (Contact Author)

University of Warwick

Gibbet Hill Rd.
Coventry, CV4 8UW
United Kingdom

Diogo G.C. Britto

Bocconi University ( email )

Via Sarfatti, 25
Milan, MI 20136
Italy

Paolo Pinotti

Bocconi University - BAFFI Center on International Markets, Money, and Regulation ( email )

Milano, 20136
Italy

Breno Sampaio

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco ( email )

United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
362
Abstract Views
1,225
Rank
161,502
PlumX Metrics