Publication
Title
Do women's pre-birth relative wages moderate the parenthood effect on gender inequality in working hours?
Author
Abstract
Although young couples increasingly divide paid and unpaid work equally, the transition to parenthood is associated with the production of gender inequality. Given the rising prevalence of female breadwinner households in Europe, this paper assesses whether the parenthood effect on gender inequality in employment is counteracted in couples where women were the main income providers before the onset of family formation. Using longitudinal micro-data (1999-2010) from the Belgian Crossroads Bank for Social Security and the National Register, population-averaged logit models assess the effect of pre-birth relative earnings on parental employment strategies following the transition to parenthood. Results indicate that a female main earner constellation positively relates to egalitarian and female-oriented employment strategies. Although pre-birth relative earnings affect the magnitude of the negative relationship between parenthood and gender inequality in paid work, male-oriented parental employment strategies continue to occur most, even among female main earner couples. Hence, variation in pre-birth relative earnings cannot fully account for the rise in gender inequality in employment following the transition to parenthood, suggesting that cultural as well as structural factors limit parents to opt for an egalitarian employment division.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Advances in life course research. - Stanford, Conn., 2000, currens
Publication
Stanford, Conn. : 2018
ISSN
1569-4909
1879-6974 [online]
1040-2608 [opgeheven]
DOI
10.1016/J.ALCR.2018.04.002
Volume/pages
36 (2018) , p. 57-69
ISI
000433646400006
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Couple's labour force participation around parenthood: can differential labour market trajectories and resources account for doing gender?
Family Policy, Maternal Employment and Fertility Outcomes: Socio-economic Differentials in Uptake and Effects of Childcare & Parental Leave in Belgium.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 10.07.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
To cite this reference