The relationship between monetary poverty and female (dis)empowerment has been extensively explored. In contrast, empirical research on the association between multidimensional poverty and female (dis)empowerment across low- and middle‐income countries (LMICs) remains limited. This study contributes to filling this gap by examining both the association and the overlap between non‐income multidimensional poverty and disempowerment, using data from partnered women aged 15–49 drawn from Demographic and Health Surveys in 32 LMICs across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania. We measure poverty and disempowerment using two Alkire–Foster‐based indices: the global Multidimensional Poverty Index and the Multidimensional Women’s Disempowerment Index. We find a positive, albeit moderate, cross‐country association between multidimensional poverty and disempowerment. In most countries, poor women face higher disempowerment rates than non‐poor women. In half of the countries, over 29% of women are simultaneously poor and disempowered, with large variation—from 65% in Mali to under 1% in the Philippines and Armenia. In others, like Ethiopia or Tajikistan, many women are poor yet empowered or non‐poor yet disempowered, respectively. Individual-level regressions confirm a moderate positive association. These findings offer new cross-country evidence on the links between SDGs 1 (No Poverty) and 5 (Gender Equality).

Abstract This paper addresses the long-standing issue of welfare state generosity measurement, by adopting a new perspective that focus on how welfare states are responding to new social risks linked to emergent forms of vulnerability. Namely, an emphasis is put on labour market polarization as well as childcare needs in the context of family model changes. Our work therefore constitutes a re-examination of Esping-Andersen’s The Worlds of Welfare State hypothesis and his main empirical application, made by revisioning both the analytical and methodological basis behind the so-called Welfare-State Decommodification Index. The results rest on a collection of public data from various statistical sources and point out that, at least concerning new social risks, the conventional division between social-democratic Nordic Europe and more conservative Continental Europe welfare regimes is somewhat blurred. Furthermore, dynamic versions of the indexes are constructed to examine the question of welfare state retrenchment and mixed-insights are found.

We examine whether subjective wellbeing outcomes can be compared across studies that use two alternative wellbeing metrics: life satisfaction (LS) and the World Health Organization’s WHO-5 index of mental wellbeing. If comparisons are meaningful, it would extend the use of wellbeing years (WELLBYs) to a wide range of health intervention evaluations. Using multiple surveys and multiple econometric approaches, we test whether a linear relationship between LS and WHO-5 holds across the entire range of both variables, including for population sub-groups. Linearity is required for both metrics to act as candidate proxies for utility, a key assumption underlying WELLBYs. Tests indicate that LS and WHO-5 are approximately linearly related except at very low levels of either variable. Considerable noise is, however, present in the relationship. Hence, caution is needed when including very low values of either measure for aggregate analyses (e.g. in constructing WELLBYs) or in using either measure for diagnostic purposes.

This paper examines the impact of lockdown policies on social capital, using the 2020 lockdown in Victoria, Australia, as a natural experiment. Using panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, we analyze five dimensions of social capital: Neighborhood Collaboration, Neighborhood Support, Community Participation, Friends & Family Support, and Friends & Relatives Interaction. We find that the lockdown significantly reduced social capital linked to interpersonal engagement, particularly Community Participation and Friends & Relatives Interaction, while increasing Neighborhood Collaboration and Friends & Family Support. Heterogeneity analysis reveals substantial variation across sociodemographic groups. Individuals with low educational attainment experience greater gains in Neighborhood Collaboration but a sharper decline in Friends & Relatives Interaction compared with college graduates. Additionally, foreign-born individuals show a significant decrease in Neighborhood Support. We further examine post-lockdown outcomes and find that the positive effects on Neighborhood Collaboration and Friends & Family Support persisted for at least two years, whereas the negative effects on Community Participation and Friends & Relatives Interaction had fully recovered. These findings highlight the uneven social consequences of lockdowns and the importance of targeted policy responses in future crises.

Abstract This study investigates the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on key workers in the UK, with a focus on gender and sectoral differences. Utilising longitudinal data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) and its COVID-19 survey, I analyse mental health outcomes during three key infection peaks: May 2020, November 2020, and January 2021. Keyworkers faced heightened exposure to the virus and increased work demands compared to non-keyworkers, with significant implications for their mental health. I employ fixed-effects models to account for pre-pandemic mental health baselines, offering a more nuanced understanding of the psychological toll. My findings reveal stronger associations between keyworker status and mental health decline compared to non-keyworkers, particularly during the pandemic’s second peak. Gender disparities were also evident, with female keyworkers reporting stronger associations with distress, exacerbated by increased domestic responsibilities. Sectoral analysis shows that health and social care workers, although at the forefront of the pandemic response, had slightly weaker associations with psychological morbidity compared to those in other key sectors like transportation and retail, due to greater institutional support. These findings highlight the need for tailored mental health interventions for keyworkers, particularly women and those in under-resourced sectors, to mitigate the adverse effects of future pandemics.

Abstract Unemployment in early career stages has been found to have lasting negative effects on future careers. The culture of worklessness theory attributes these after-effects to a decreasing intrinsic work motivation during unemployment. However, empirical evidence regarding the impact of prolonged unemployment on the intrinsic work motivation of young people is scarce. Drawing on a sample of young adults who were interviewed twice—once at the beginning of an unemployment spell and again one year later—we examine how intrinsic work motivation changed during this period. We use change score models to estimate the effects of unemployment duration, re-employment status, and—for those re-employed—the quality of the new job. In contrast to the culture of worklessness theory, but in line with Jahoda’s theory of latent deprivation, we find that longer unemployment durations induce an overall increase in intrinsic work motivation—especially for those who were no longer unemployed at the time of the second interview and whose new jobs were of higher intrinsic quality than the previous ones. Our findings challenge the idea that prolonged unemployment feeds a self-reinforcing circle of demotivation, highlighting instead the need for intrinsically motivating jobs for young people.