Family economics 2400-EN3SL307A

Family economics is a branch of economics that studies issues related to family-specific decision-making. Examples of such decisions include the formation and dissolution of marriage (divorce), the division of labor within the household (household chores, childcare, market work), and fertility (number of children, intervals between births, level and structure of expenses for raising children). These decisions are largely shaped by market mechanisms, socio-economic and institutional environment, and technology. As a result, the subject matter of family economics is very broad, encompassing areas such as education, health, labor market, contract theory, altruism, demographic processes, and risk management.

The first few seminar meetings will be dedicated to detailing the scope of topics that could be the subject of the future bachelor's thesis. Research methods that can be effectively applied to the analysis of the discussed issues will also be covered. Subsequently, through individual consultations with the instructor and group discussions, seminar participants will narrow down their research area and develop their research plan. Research conducted within this seminar can be theoretical (economic modeling), empirical (testing hypotheses using econometric methods), or mixed (theoretical-empirical). Empirical research can be conducted using publicly available data or data from the Faculty of Economic Sciences Repository, but can also be obtained through a survey created in consultation with the instructor (e.g., online survey).

Examples of research topics that can be explored in this seminar include: who marries whom and why, the implications of age differences between partners, the impact of online dating on the marriage market, factors that increase the risk of divorce, time allocation within the family, reproductive decisions, investments in human capital, assistance and care for elderly parents, the impact of social policy on fertility, and the well-being of family members.