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19. Oktober 2011

SOEP Brown Bag Seminar

SOEP Brown Bag Seminar: Parenthood, maternal labour market return, and gender inequality in housework
Parenthood, maternal labour market return, and gender inequality in housework: A comparison of different parental leave contexts

Termin

19. Oktober 2011
12:30 - 13:30

Ort

Gustav-Schmoller-Raum
DIW Berlin im Quartier 110
Room 3.3.002A
Mohrenstraße 58
10117 Berlin

Pia Schober (University of Cambridge)

This paper investigates the effect of the timing and extent of mothers' labour market return after a birth on couples' division of housework in Britain and West-Germany. This improves our understanding of how parenthood gives rise to a trend towards a more traditional division of housework in couples. By comparing Britain and West-Germany with their different parental leave policies and observing several policy reforms in each country over time, this study provides new evidence how contextual variations in parental leave policies may impact on the division of housework in couples.

Methodologically, this research extends the literature by applying multilevel multiprocess models to reduce the risk of unobserved heterogeneity biasing estimates of interrelated decisions after repeated life-course events. I estimate simultaneously the timing and extent of mothers' labour market return, the likelihood of having another child, and the time women and men in couples allocate to housework in the years following a first or second birth. The empirical analysis is based on data from the British Household Panel Survey (1991-2008) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (1985-2009).

The results suggest that returning to the labour market full-time work is more effective than short leave durations in reducing the trend towards a more traditional division of housework in couples. Unobserved characteristics, such as work and family orientations, account for most of the association of housework time with the length of mothers' employment interruption and significantly weaken the association with women's full-time labour market return, especially in Britain. Parental leave policy reforms in both countries are associated with the division of housework only through their impact on the extent and timing of women's return to work. In line with theory, I find some evidence of a stronger association of women's quick and full-time labour market return with lower housework time for women in Britain than in West-Germany.

Kontakt

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