Although this cash transfer relaxed household resource constraints, it's likely that intra-household bargaining and prevailing gender norms likely shaped how the gains were distributed
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Children living with an eligible pensioner were more likely to be enrolled in school, with the strongest effects among older boys, for whom the opportunity cost of school was highest.
Crucially for girls, the effect size and direction depends on household income and the sex of pension recipient
I study the 1908 Old Age Pension which transformed welfare provision across Ireland using full-count census data from 1901 and 1911 combined with my new (and painstakenly) constructed income household estimates 💰
The transfer boosted household incomes by up to 20 percentage points in some areas!
JMP cover
Pension household income boost.
🎓 On the 2025-2026 Economics Job Market! 🎓
📄 Job Market Paper: From Pensions to Pupils? Schooling, Resource Constraints and Old Age Pensions in Ireland, 1901–1911
🤓 Can giving cash transfers to the elderly improve children’s schooling outcomes in multigenerational households?
Turns out they can!
