Jason Lindo

“Gender-Specific Measures of Economic Conditions and Child Abuse,” the Spring 2013 issue of CSWS Research Matters, examines data collected from California counties, with stark results. Written by , assistant professor, University of Oregon Department of Economics, the paper takes a different tack than previous studies. Lindo writes that “by focusing on aggregate measures of economic conditions, prior studies have been missing the story.” Instead, his study, funded in part by a 2012 CSWS Faculty Research Grant, takes a close look at the role of gender. “Male layoffs increase rates of child abuse,” he writes, “while female layoffs reduce rates of child abuse.”

By looking at gender-specific measures of economic conditions and child abuse, Lindo and his fellow researchers analyze from a different perspective, one “motivated by the notion that economic conditions facing males and females may have different effects on child abuse since they may have different effects on income, childcare provision, and stress, among other important aspects of the household.”

They found that “downturns that disproportionately affect industries with a large concentration of males increase rates of abuse, while downturns that disproportionately affect industries with a large concentration of females reduce rates of abuse.” Read more....