Labor Markets, Wages, & Poverty

Do Alternative Households Improve Paid Employment Outcomes in Brazil?

PERI researcher James Heintz and Cicero Braga explore the labor market implications of household formation among same-sex married couples in Brazil, comparing them with different-sex married couples and unpartnered individuals. They provide a descriptive overview of same-sex households and analyzes patterns of partnership formation, racial and educational endogamy/homogamy, and paid employment outcomes. They find that that same-sex couples may benefit from household formation by adopting alternatives to traditional patriarchal dynamics. Their results highlight the importance of recognizing diverse household structures to fully understand economic well-being and inequities.

Overwork by U.S. Teachers and Prospects for Work-Time Reductions

PERI researchers Katherine Moos and Noe Wiener analyze the focus group interviews they conducted with public school teachers in Massachusetts about reducing work hours to improve their working conditions. The teachers reported long work hours and a significant “mental load”—both of which affect teachers’ quality of life, physical and mental health, relationships with their families, and desire to keep teaching. The teachers expressed eagerness to include work-time reductions in future union contracts, but skepticism that their school districts had the fiscal space or political will to achieve this goal.