How Do Households Respond to Job Loss? Lessons from Multiple High-Frequency Data Sets

Abstract

How do households respond to job loss, and which self-insurance channels are most important? By linking high-frequency customer data from the largest bank in Denmark with government administrative registers, we quantify a broad range of responses to job loss in a unified empirical framework. Two responses stand out: during the first 24 months after job loss, reductions in household spending account for 30% of the income loss, while lower saving in liquid assets accounts for 50%. Other response margins highlighted in the literature - spousal labor supply, private transfers, home equity extraction, mortgage refinancing, and consumer credit - are less important.