Topic Gender

Does Religion Influence the Labour Supply of Married Women in Germany?

On behavioural theory basis, this article analyses whether religion influences married women in Germany in their decision to supply labour. Gender roles and accompanying attitudes toward the appropriate division of labour among spouses might differ across religious groups depending on the groups´ strictness. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and applying both cross-sectional and ...

Long-Term Effects of Unpaid Overtime

Why do people work unpaid overtime? We show that remarkable long-term labor earnings gains are associated with unpaid overtime in West Germany. A descriptive analysis suggests that over a 10-year period workers with unpaid overtime experience on average at least a 10 percentage points higher increase in real labor earnings than their co-workers. Applying panel data models this result generally holds. ...

A Multilevel Analysis of Child Care and the Transition to Motherhood in Western Germany

In this paper, we take a multilevel perspective to investigate the role of child care in the transition to motherhood in Germany. We argue that in the European institutional context the availability of public day care and informal child care arrangements should be a central element of the local opportunity structure regarding the compatibility of childrearing and women's employment. Using data from ...

Does Part-Time and Intermittent Work during Early Motherhood Lead to Regular Work Later? A comparison of Labor Behavior of Mothers with Young Children in Germany, Britain, The Netherlands and Sweden

We use data from Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden to examine whether part-time and intermittent work during early motherhood leads to regular full-time work later. We find that in Sweden, by the time the first child is four years old 80 percent of mothers are working full-time if 25 hours is counted as full-time work, but only 30 percent if a 35-hour threshold is used. This finding ...

Pathways into Self-Employment in the United States and Germany

Using longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the German Socio-Economic Panel, this research compares pathways into self-employment among men and women in the United States and Western Germany. Academic and vocational credentials are more important for stabilizing self-employment in the United States than in Germany, where the lack of credentials is a significant deterrent to ...

Timing of First Births in East Germany after Reunification

When German reunification was accompanied by a rapid decline in aggregate fertility rates, researchers particularly assigned high unemployment rates a dominant role for changes in fertility behavior. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we investigate changes in the timing of first birth in East Germany after reunification. Using data from the GSOEP, we show that even after reunification East Germans ...

Success at Work, Life Patterns, and Overall Life Satisfaction: Changes in the Lives of Men and Women since the 1980s in West Germany

This paper focuses on the structural relationship between family building and upward mobility. Typically this relationship is analyzed for women only, while we include men as well. With new patterns of intimate partnerships and non-traditional families, on the one hand, and a changing labor market, on the other hand, new assertions about their connection have emerged. Using SOEP-data, the possible ...

Employment Behaviour among Women in Germany: Differences between East and West Persist

More, Less, or All the Same? The Difference Midlife Caregiving Makes for Women's Adjustments of Work Hours

Gender Effects As Macro-Level Effects: Germany and the United States 1991-1997

My research examines within-nation differences as well as cross-national differences in socially stratified outcomes, specifically the distribution of household incomes. I build on the considerable empirical evidence suggesting that group memberships are important factors in shaping one' s life course and in determining the level of social inequality. I examine seven years of longitudinal data from ...