Subjective Impact of the Economic Crisis on Households with Children in 17 European Countries

This paper investigates differences in the perceived impact of the economic crisis between adults in households with and without children in 17 European countries, using data from the Life in Transition Survey 2010. It also explores the channels through which the crisis affected adults in households with children and the ways in which they coped with the decline in income or economic activity. Overall, adults in households with children were more likely to report an impact of the crisis, with larger differences in countries with higher rates of monetary child poverty. Everything else being equal, perceptions of the crisis were more widespread in countries with higher rates of child poverty, lower economic growth and lower GDP per capita. Adults in households with children had been affected in a greater number of ways and adopted a greater variety of coping strategies than those in households without children. There is evidence that adults in households with children prioritised expenditure on basic necessities, while cutting back on luxuries and holidays, but many still reported reduced consumption of staple foods as a result of economic difficulties.