Publication
Title
Family formation and labour force participation : maternal employment and educational differentials in Europe
Author
Abstract
Despite the rise in maternal employment in Europe between 1970 and the 2000s, women's labour market positions continue to depend much more strongly on family formation than those of men. The available literature on educational gradients in maternal employment is largely based on cross-sectional comparisons. This study is among the first to decompose educational differences in maternal employment into differences prior to motherhood and differential effects of childbearing on employment. Drawing on longitudinal micro data (Generations and Gender Survey) for France, the Netherlands, and Hungary, participation in the labour force is studied using mixed effects logit models. In addition we distinguish part-time and full-time work. In line with the available literature, clear positive educational gradients in maternal employment are found, largely reflecting positive educational differentials already existing before family formation. This finding is related to the fact that highly educated women typically aim to establish a career before starting a family, but also have better labour market opportunities in general. Temporary drops in labour force participation are larger after a first birth among highly educated women. Part-time working of mothers is less strongly determined by employment before the first birth, and its frequency increases with educational level.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Population: an English selection / Institut national d'études démographiques [Paris] - Paris, 1989 - 2001
Publication
Paris : 2016
ISSN
1169-1018
Volume/pages
71 :1 (2016) , p. 53-83
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Work, living arrangements and social policy. An exploration of socio-economic differentials in family formation in Belgium using an administrative socio-demographic panel.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Record
Identifier
Creation 13.09.2016
Last edited 07.10.2022
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