When Layoffs Hit, Domestic Violence Follows
In their study, Sonia Bhalotra (University of Warwick), Diogo G. C. Britto (Bocconi), Paolo Pinotti (Bocconi), and Breno Sampaio (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco) – draw on a rare wealth of information: all reports of domestic violence, all requests for protection, all hospitalizations and health notifications for violence, and all formal employment relationships in the country. It is an ideal condition for isolating the pure effect of job loss.
“The effects are strong, immediate, and persistent,” explains Diogo Britto, director of CLEAN (Crime: Law and Economic Analysis), a research unit at Bocconi's Baffi Center. “The likelihood of domestic violence increases when either the man or the woman loses their job. And this goes against the main economic theories on the subject.”