The Economic Consequences of Being Widowed by War: A Life-Cycle Perspective

TL;DR

This paper examines the long-term economic impact of war widowhood on women in West Germany, revealing immediate employment increases followed by later-life declines, influenced by compensation policies and affecting subsequent generations.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the life-cycle economic effects of war widowhood and highlights the role of policy design in shaping these outcomes.

Findings

War widows had higher employment immediately after WWII.

Later in life, war widows' employment rates declined.

Compensation policies influenced the observed employment patterns.

Abstract

Despite millions of war widows worldwide, little is known about the economic consequences of being widowed by war. We use life history data from West Germany to show that war widowhood increased women's employment immediately after World War II but led to lower employment rates later in life. War widows, therefore, carried a double burden of employment and childcare while their children were young but left the workforce when their children reached adulthood. We show that the design of compensation policies likely explains this counterintuitive life-cycle pattern and examine potential spillovers to the next generation.