Parental earnings response to children's job loss: Evidence from Finland

• The job displacement of adult children leads to a delayed increase in parental earnings of approximately 5 %. • This response is strongest among fathers and older parents with higher incomes. • The increase in parental earnings results from greater work intensity rather than higher employment rates. This study investigates how job displacement among adult children affects their parents’ earnings using population-based data from Finland. The research utilizes plant closures during the 1991–1994 recession as exogenous shocks to identify causal effects. Our results show that an adult child's job loss leads to increased parental earnings, particularly two to five years post-displacement, but the effect size gradually diminishes over time. The effects are pronounced among older parents and male parents. This study contributes to the literature on intergenerational economic spillovers and highlights the role of parents’ altruism and economic behavior in response to children's job displacement.