Assistant and auxiliary nurses in crisis times: Earnings, employment, and income effects of female job loss in the Swedish public sector

The purpose of this paper is to examine the earnings, employment and income effects of job displacement among female assistant and auxiliary nurses – two hard-hit female-dominated occupations – in Sweden during the economic crisis of the 1990s.

Using register data, assistant and auxiliary nurses who were displaced due to mass-layoffs during the crisis years were identified, as well as an appropriate control group. The study population could be followed for a maximum of 13 years. Mean effects were estimated using a propensity score weighted fixed effect estimator. In a supplementary analysis, propensity score weighted quantile effects were estimated.

Job loss among women in the public sector seems to have had similar earnings and employment consequences as previously found for job loss among men in the private sector. However, the social insurance system replaced a majority of the lost earnings. Moreover, a distributional analysis revealed that the income and earnings losses were limited to the lower part of the distributions.

Budget consolidation measures to restore health to public finances in the aftermath of the Great Recession are likely to have long-lasting adverse consequences for some. Although many of those losing their jobs are likely to quickly regain employment at a comparable earnings level, the unlucky few may bear most of the costs.

The author is aware of no previously published research that has investigated either the impact of job displacement in the public sector or the distributional effect of job displacement.