To start the project of, the most up-to-date literature was reviewed and the contribution of the two subprojects with respect to the existing literature was clarified. Simultaneously the application of the administrative data from Statistics Netherlands and collection procedure of the municipal-level data began. This resulted in two novel data sets for each of the respective subprojects. One data set consisted of information on demographic background characteristics for each refugee center, voting behavior at the neighborhood level, and local sentiments on refugees expressed on social media. While the second data set combined information on the tariffs each municipality pays informal caregivers with informal caregivers’ employment outcomes.
With the data sets being ready, the analysis phase started. For the first subproject, together with my co-authors we employed a difference-in-difference design, using the arrival of a new refugee center in certain municipalities. The tentative results show that the attitude of the local population toward refugees does respond to the proximity of a refugee center, with their response being dependent on prior economic conditions and sentiments within the region. For the second subproject, I made use of the quasi-random variation in the support informal caregivers receive from their municipality after the decentralization reform in 2015. This reform shifted the responsibility of youth care from the national government to the municipalities. Analyzing the novel self-collected data on municipal support for parents who are informal caregivers shows great diversity in the support municipalities offer. The payment informal care givers may receive for the additional care they provide to their child, can be almost twice as large depending on the municipality where they live. The next step is to investigate how this variety in municipal support impacts employment outcomes of informal caregivers, which is to be completed soon.
For both subprojects a start has been made with writing the academic working papers. In addition, a non-technical summary has been prepared for the second subproject on the regional diversity of municipal support of informal caregivers (see the project’s website). The preliminary results have been disseminated and communicated with both academic and broader non-academic audiences. Among others, I have held several internal and external academic presentations, organized bilateral meetings with experts in the field and actively disseminated the non-technical summary among governmental bodies.
