Thema Bildung

Gender Equality and Outsourcing of Domestic Work, Childbearing, and Relationship Stability among British Couples

This study investigates whether gender inequality in the division of housework and child care may be an obstacle to childbearing and relationship stability among different groups of British couples. Furthermore, it explores whether outsourcing of domestic labor ameliorates any negative effects of domestic work inequality. The empirical investigation uses event-history analysis based on 14 waves (1992-2005) ...

Firm Size and Efficiency in the German Mechanical Engineering Industry

Research usually finds a positive size-efficiency relationship, but few studies focus on sectors dominated by small and medium-sized firms (SMEs). This paper fills this gap by analyzing this relationship in the German mechanical engineering industry sector, which is both successful and increasingly dominated by SMEs. The analysis, using a large and representative dataset, finds that small and large ...

Bildungsökonomische Perspektiven frühkindlicher Bildungsforschung

With Strings Attached: Grandparent-Provided Child Care and Female Labor Market Outcomes

Grandparents are regular providers of free child care. Similar to other forms of child care, availability of grandparent-provided child care affects fertility and labor force participation of women positively. However, grandparent-provided child care requires residing close to parents or in-laws which may imply costly spatial restrictions. We find that mothers residing close to parents or in-laws have ...

Hochschulstudium: nicht ausgeschöpfte Potentiale trotz "Akademisierungswahn"

In den vergangenen Jahren ist die Zahl der Studienanfängerinnen und -anfänger an deutschen Hochschulen deutlich gestiegen. Ihren bisherigen Rekordwert erreichte sie im Studienjahr 2011: Damals schrieben sich 518 700 Studienanfängerinnen und -anfänger erstmals an einer deutschen Hochschule ein. Die Studienanfängerquote erreichte 56 Prozent. Das heißt, jeder 2. Schulabgänger nimmt im Laufe seines Lebens ...

The Influence of Child Care on Maternal Health and Mother-Child Interaction

In Germany, formal child care coverage rates have increased markedly over the past few decades. The expansion in coverage is particularly pronounced for under 3 year-olds. The present paper is concerned with how mothers' mental and physical health is affected by whether they place their child in formal day care or not. Furthermore, the effects of formal child care usage on mother-child interaction ...

Ausbau der Kinderbetreuung: Entlastung der Eltern erhöht Zufriedenheit

Beginnend mit dem Jahr 2005 und nochmals verstärkt seit 2008 wurde in Deutschland das Angebot an Kinderbetreuung für die unter Dreijährigen flächendeckend ausgebaut. Wir untersuchen, ob diese Ausweitung im Angebot - vermittelt über eine stärkere Entlastung der Mütter und Väter mit Kindern in dieser Altersgruppe - die Zufriedenheit dieser Eltern mit verschiedenen Lebensbereichen spürbar erhöht hat. ...

Kita-Ausbau erhöht die Zufriedenheit der Mütter: Fünf Fragen an Pia Schober

Low Level of Equal Opportunities in Germany: Family Background Shapes Individual Economic Success

For many years, securing equal life opportunities has been a normative goal shared by all democratic societies in the western world. Although, in principle, all citizens enjoy the same rights, in reality, individual life opportunities still vary according to family background which, in turn, shapes the prevailing pattern of social inequality. This is not a specifically German phenomenon. Based on a ...

Trick or Treat? Maternal Involuntary Job Loss and Children's Non-cognitive Skills

Negative effects of job loss on adults such as considerable fall in income have long been examined. If job loss has negative consequences for adults, it may spread to their children. But potential effects on children's non-cognitive skills and the related mechanisms have been less examined. This paper uses propensity score matching to analyze maternal involuntary job loss and its potential causal effect ...