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Berlanda, Andrea, Elisabetta Lodigiani & Lorenzo Rocco (2025): Immigration and Adult Children's Care for Elderly Parents: Evidence from Western Europe. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 17984), Bonn, 41 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we use the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), complemented with register data on the share of the foreign population in the European regions, to examine the effects of migration on the level of informal care provided by children to their senior parents. Our main results show that migration decreases informal care among daughters with a university degree, while it increases the provision of informal care among daughters with low-to-medium levels of education. Viceversa, migration has practically no effect on sons’ care provision who remain little involved in care activities. These results depend on the combination of two supply effects. First, migration increases the supply of domestic and personal services, making formal care more affordable and available. Second, as immigrants compete with low-to-medium-educated native workers, while improve the labor market opportunities of the better educated, the supply of informal care can increase among the less educated daughters and decrease among the more educated." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Afonso, António & M. Carmen Blanco-Arana (2024): The Persistence of Gender Pay and Employment Gaps in European Countries. (CESifo working paper 11315), München, 18 S.

Abstract

"The gender pay gap and the gender gap in employment remains persistent in Europe despite the basic assertion of gender equality under EU law. We assess the factors that influence the gender pay gap and gender employment gap across European countries. Therefore, we use an unbalanced panel of 31 European countries over the period 2000-2022, and estimate a system generalized method of moment model (GMM). The main conclusions confirm that tertiary education significantly reduces gender pay gap and part-time and temporary contracts significantly increase this gap. Moreover, part-time reduces significantly gender employment gap. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita does not affect these gaps and the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) saw a narrowing of the gender pay and employment gaps in European countries. The results are robust when using a fixed effects (FE) model." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Biegel, Naomi & Julie Maes (2024): The educational gradient in formal childcare use – the role of employment opportunities and (in)formal childcare availability. In: Community, work & family, Jg. 27, H. 4, S. 535-555. DOI:10.1080/13668803.2022.2149387

Abstract

"This paper investigates three potential mechanisms of educational differentials in formal childcare uptake in Belgium, a country characterised by high availability, but also pronounced gradients in childcare uptake. We investigate whether and to what extent educational differentials can be accounted for by (i) differences in employment opportunities of mothers with different educational backgrounds, (ii) variation in local childcare availability which may entail different access, or (iii) differential availability of grandparents as an alternative source of affordable and flexible care. We use data from the 2011 Belgian census, which provides us with information on the socio-demographic characteristics of the entire population legally residing in Belgium. The census was linked to tax register data which gives insight into the uptake of formal childcare as childcare expenses are tax-deductible, as well as municipality-level data on childcare availability. Using logistic regression analysis, we investigate the uptake of formal childcare among two-parent families with one child younger than 2.5 years old. Results indicate that educational gradients are mainly due to differences in employment opportunities rather than differential availability of formal childcare at the local level or informal childcare availability." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Giannantoni, Costanza & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (2024): Regional government institutions and the capacity for women to reconcile career and motherhood. (Papers in evolutionary economic geography 2024,35), Utrecht, 44 S.

Abstract

"Declining fertility and the persistent underrepresentation of women in the labor market are key concerns of our time. The fact that they overlap is not fortuitous. Traditionally, women everywhere have faced a conflict in balancing their career ambitions with family responsibilities. Yet, the pressures arising from this conflict vary enormously from one place to another. Existing research has tended to overlook the geographical features of this dilemma, which could result in an inadequate understanding of the issue and lead to ineffective policy responses. This paper examines how variations in the quality of regional institutions affect women's capacity to reconcile career and motherhood and, consequently, gender equality within Europe. Using panel data from 216 regions across 18 European countries, we uncover a positive effect of regional institutional quality on fertility rates, taking into account variations in female employment. Moreover, we show that European regions with better government quality provide a more reliable environment for managing the career/motherhood dilemma often faced by women. In contrast, women living in regions with weaker government institutions are more constrained in both their career and childbearing options." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Haupt, Andreas & Dafna Gelbgiser (2024): The gendered division of cognitive household labor, mental load, and family–work conflict in European countries. In: European Societies, Jg. 26, H. 3, S. 828-854. DOI:10.1080/14616696.2023.2271963

Abstract

"The unequal division of cognitive labor within households, and its potential association with mental load and stress, has gained substantial interest in recent public and scholarly discussions. We aim to deepen this debate theoretically and empirically. First, going beyond the question of whether the division of cognitive labor is gendered, we connect cognitive household labor with existing stress theories and ask whether men and women typically perform cognitive labor tasks that involve different levels of stress. We then discuss whether women perform these stressful tasks more often, making them more prone to higher levels of Family–work conflict. Second, we test the association between the division of cognitive labor and Family–work conflict empirically using large-scale survey data from 10 European countries within the Generations & Gender Programme (GGP). Results based on logistic regressions confirm that a high share of cognitive labor increases women's Family–work conflict, but not men's. We discuss future directions in the conceptualization and measurement of cognitive labor in the household and its implications for mental load. Through its contributions, this paper lays the foundations for a comprehensive understanding of the implications of an unequal division of cognitive labor in the household for gender inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Yildirim, Sinan (2024): A different outcome for unemployment and labour force participation: the discouraged female worker by male unemployment. In: Applied Economics Letters, S. 1-5. DOI:10.1080/13504851.2024.2389346

Abstract

"This study analyzes the link between labour force participation and unemployment over the long term in Belgium. Evaluating a long-term relationship is crucial because the unemployment rate is frequently used in both empirical study and policy. ARDL co-integration analyses are all performed for young age groups, aggregate, gender-specific series. The results show that there is no evidence to support an additional worker effect for any gender category. For the female labour force aged 15 to 24, the discouraging female worker effect by male unemployment is discovered. This situation could be caused by constraints like having to take care of children and household chores, getting paid less for doing the same work, and the prevalence of men in organizational hierarchies. Women may therefore think that it will be more difficult for them to find employment than for men, who typically have better opportunities. Therefore, women may believe that their own job search has become more challenging if the male unemployment rate rises. Politicians should consider this effect, which will cause the rate of unemployment among women to be underestimated during recessions and overestimated during expansions in the economy. In addition, it is important to encourage young women to join the labour force when the rate of unemployment for men increases." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Campaña, Juan Carlos, José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & Jorge Velilla (2023): Measuring Gender Gaps in Time Allocation in Europe. In: Social indicators research, Jg. 165, H. 2, S. 519-553. DOI:10.1007/s11205-022-03026-0

Abstract

"This paper explores the gender gap in time allocation in European countries, offering a comparison of the 2000s and the 2010s, along with an explanation of the documented gender gaps, based on social norms and institutional factors. The results show that the gender gap in both paid and unpaid work has decreased in most countries, but with a significant level of cross-country heterogeneity in the size of the gender gaps. More traditional social norms are related to greater gender inequalities in paid and unpaid work, while countries with better family-friendly policies and a greater representation of women in politics and in the labour market exhibit smaller gender inequalities. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of gender gaps in Europe, and attempts to monitor the progress towards the elimination of gender inequalities. Despite that some degree of gender convergence in paid and unpaid work has taken place, there remain inequalities in the distribution of labour in European countries, and possible solutions may be related to social norms and family-friendly policies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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De Rock, Bram & Guillaume Périlleux (2023): Time Use and Life Satisfaction within Couples: A Gender Analysis for Belgium. In: Feminist economics, Jg. 29, H. 4, S. 1-35. DOI:10.1080/13545701.2023.2251505

Abstract

"This article looks at the time allocation of individuals with a focus on paid and unpaid work, its division within households, and its link with life satisfaction. The study uses the cross-sectional MEqIN database for Belgium in 2016 and corrects for heterogeneity by using measures of the personality traits. The division of time appears to be quite gendered. Women are found to be more satisfied when working part time. This could be because a majority of working women still undertake most of the unpaid work so that they end up operating a double shift. Looking at the link of time allocation of both partners on the individuals' life satisfaction, men's behavior appears to be in accordance with a conservative gender attitude, and even a breadwinner version, while women's behavior is closer to an egalitarian gender attitude. The study further observes that those behaviors are softened by the presence of children." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kowalewska, Helen (2023): Gendered employment patterns: Women's labour market outcomes across 24 countries. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 33, H. 2, S. 151-168. DOI:10.1177/09589287221148336

Abstract

"An accepted framework for ‘gendering’ the analysis of welfare regimes compares countries by degrees of ‘defamilialization’ or how far their family policies support or undermine women’s employment participation. This article develops an alternative framework that explicitly spotlights women’s labour market outcomes rather than policies. Using hierarchical clustering on principal components, it groups 24 industrialized countries by their simultaneous performance across multiple gendered employment outcomes spanning segregation and inequalities in employment participation, intensity, and pay, with further differences by class. The three core ‘worlds’ of welfare (social-democratic, corporatist, liberal) each displays a distinctive pattern of gendered employment outcomes. Only France diverges from expectations, as large gender pay gaps across the educational divide – likely due to fragmented wage-bargaining – place it with Anglophone countries. Nevertheless, the outcome-based clustering fails to support the idea of a homogeneous Mediterranean grouping or a singular Eastern European cluster. Furthermore, results underscore the complexity and idiosyncrasy of gender inequality: while certain groups of countries are ‘better’ overall performers, all have their flaws. Even the Nordics fall behind on some measures of segregation, despite narrow participatory and pay gaps for lower- and high-skilled groups. Accordingly, separately monitoring multiple measures of gender inequality, rather than relying on ‘headline’ indicators or gender equality indices, matters." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Maes, Julie, Jonas Wood & Karel Neels (2023): Path-Dependencies in Employment Trajectories Around Motherhood: Comparing Native Versus Second-Generation Migrant Women in Belgium. In: Journal of International Migration and Integration, Jg. 24, H. 1, S. 281-344. DOI:10.1007/s12134-020-00801-1

Abstract

"A sizeable body of literature has shown that the migrant-native employment gap is larger among women with children than among childless women, suggesting that the transition to parenthood has a stronger impact on the employment trajectories of migrant origin women compared to those of native women. However, due to the limited use of longitudinal data, our understanding of the mechanisms generating differential employment trajectories around the transition to parenthood remains limited. This study adopts a life course perspective to address path-dependencies in employment trajectories around the transition to motherhood. Using longitudinal data and fixed-effects models that compare within-individual changes in contractual working hours around the transition to parenthood between natives and second-generation migrants of Southern European and Turkish or Moroccan origin in Belgium, we find no migrant-native differentials among women with low employment rates before the birth of their first child and only limited differentials in employment trajectories around parenthood among women with medium and high employment rates before parenthood. This indicates that there is a strong path-dependency of employment trajectories around parenthood for migrant women and natives alike, but that second-generation migrant women generally have a lower pre-birth labour market attachment than native women which accounts for the frequently observed migrant-native differentials in maternal employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Avram, Silvia & Daria Popova (2022): Do taxes and transfers reduce gender income inequality? Evidence from eight European welfare states. In: Social science research, Jg. 102. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102644

Abstract

"We examine how taxes and transfers affect the incomes of men and women. Using microsimulation and intra-household income splitting rules, we measure the differences in the level and composition of individual disposable income by gender in eight European countries covering various welfare regime types. We quantify the extent to which taxes and transfers can counterbalance the gender gap in earnings, as well as which policy instruments contribute most to reducing the gender income gap. We find that with the exception of old-age public pensions, all taxes and transfers significantly reduce gender income inequality but cannot compensate for high gender earnings gaps. Our findings suggest that gender income equality is more likely to be achieved by promoting the universal/dual breadwinner model, whereby women's labour force participation and wages are on a par with men. To achieve this, men will likely need to work less and care more." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))

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Christl, Michael, Silvia De Poli & Viginta Ivaškaitė-Tamošiūnė (2022): The lock-in effect of marriage: Work incentives after saying, "Yes, I do.". (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 1142), Essen, 23 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we use EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model of the European Union, to investigate the impact of marriage-related tax-benefit instruments on the labour supply of married couples. For each married partner, we estimate their individual marginal effective tax rate and net replacement rate before and after marriage. We show that the marriage bonus, which is economically significant in eight European countries, decreases the work incentives for women and, particularly, on the intensive margin. In contrast, the incentives on the intensive margin increase for men once they are married, pointing to the marriage-biased and gender-biased taxbenefit structures in the analysed countries. Our results suggest that marriage bonuses contribute to a lock-in effect, where second earners, typically women, are incentivised to work less, with negative economic consequences." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Oggero, Noemi, Francesco Devicienti, Mariacristina Rossi & Davide Vannoni (2022): You can't be what you can't see: The role of gender in the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship. (Carlo Alberto notebooks 675), Turin, 33 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we investigate how the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship varies between sons and daughters, and whether such a process depends on living in a country characterized by a high gender gap. Using the SHARE dataset, we find that the effect on daughters’ entrepreneurial choices of having an entrepreneur as father is lower than the one on sons only in countries with a high gender gap. Moreover, it is just in countries with high gender inequality that the effect of having an entrepreneurial mother is different between sons and daughters, with the impact being positive for daughters only. We also develop an individual-level indicator of gender gap within countries that corroborates our findings, which we interpret as evidence of the presence of a role modeling mechanism. However, we find evidence of convergence across time of the intergenerational transmission process to the gender-independent transfer typical of more gender equal countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Aksoy, Cevat Giray, Berkay Özcan & Julia Philipp (2021): Robots and the Gender Pay Gap in Europe. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 134. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103693

Abstract

"Could robotization make the gender pay gap worse? We provide the first large-scale evidence on the impact of industrial robots on the gender pay gap using data from 20 European countries. We show that robot adoption increases both male and female earnings but also increases the gender pay gap. Using an instrumental variable strategy, we find that a ten percent increase in robotization leads to a 1.8 percent increase in the gender pay gap. These results are driven by countries with high initial levels of gender inequality and can be explained by the fact that men at medium- and high-skill occupations disproportionately benefit from robotization, through a productivity effect. We rule out the possibility that our results are driven by mechanical changes in the gender composition of the workforce." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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Bartels, Charlotte & Cortnie Shupe (2021): Drivers of Participation Elasticities across Europe: Gender or Earner Role within the Household? (DIW-Diskussionspapiere 1969), Berlin, 61 S.

Abstract

"We compute participation tax rates across the EU and find that work disincentives inherent in tax-benefit systems largely depend on household composition and the individual’s earner role within the household. We then estimate participation elasticities using an IV group estimator that enables us to investigate the responsiveness of individuals to work incentives. We contribute to the literature on heterogeneous elasticities by providing estimates for breadwinners and secondary earners separately, according to their potential earnings rather than gender. Our results show an average participation elasticity of 0.0-0.1 among breadwinners and 0.1-0.4 among secondary earners in the EU as well as a high degree of heterogeneity across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Biegel, Naomi, Jonas Wood & Karel Neels (2021): Migrant-native differentials in the uptake of (in)formal childcare in Belgium: The role of mothers' employment opportunities and care availability. In: Journal of Family Research, Jg. 33, H. 2, S. 467-508. DOI:10.20377/jfr-463

Abstract

"Objective: we explore migrant-native differentials in the uptake of formal and informal childcare and whether this is induced by lower demand for childcare versus differential access to (in)formal childcare compared to natives. Background: The rise in female labour market participation in recent decades has challenged parents to negotiate work and family responsibilities and organise childcare. Belgium is among the European countries with the highest availability of formal childcare, but maternal employment and uptake of childcare are substantially lower in migrant populations. Methods : Combining linked microdata from the 1991 and 2001 censuses with contextual data on childcare availability at the municipality level, we use multinomial logit models to study childcare use and type of childcare arrangement among parents having a young child in 2001. As access to childcare and maternal employment are mutually endogenous, we use estimated employment opportunities. Results : We find considerable migrant-native differentials in childcare use, as well as substantial differences between first and second generation migrants. Second generation mothers of Turkish, Moroccan and Eastern-European background are less likely than natives to use childcare, and more likely to rely on informal arrangements if childcare is used. Controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and differential availability of (in)formal childcare largely accounts for differences in childcare use, but Turkish and Moroccan women remain less likely to use care and first generation Turkish mothers remain more likely to use informal care as opposed to formal childcare. Conclusions : While differences in socio-demographic characteristics, labour market opportunities and availability of (in)formal care provide a partial explanation, partial migrant-native differentials in childcare use persist for specific groups, suggesting that other factors inhibit the uptake of formal childcare." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Rycx, François (2021): Upstreamness, wages and gender: Equal benefits for all? In: BJIR, Jg. 59, H. 1, S. 52-83. DOI:10.1111/bjir.12486

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Ledic, Marko & Ivica Rubil (2021): Beyond Wage Gap, Towards Job Quality Gap: The Role of Inter-Group Differences in Wages, Non-Wage Job Dimensions, and Preferences. In: Social indicators research, Jg. 155, H. 2, S. 523-561. DOI:10.1007/s11205-021-02612-y

Abstract

"Wage is not the only thing people care about when assessing the quality of their jobs. Non-wage job dimensions, such as autonomy at work and work-life balance, are important as well. Nevertheless, there is vast literature comparing groups of employed people that focuses on the inter-group wage gaps only. We go beyond the wage gap by proposing a framework for analysing inter-group gaps in multidimensional job quality. Job quality is measured by the so-called equivalent wage, a measure combining wage and multiple non-wage job dimensions in accordance with preferences over jobs as combinations of job dimensions. We derive a decomposition of the inter-group equivalent wage gap into three components: (1) the standard wage gap, (2) the gap in non-wage dimensions, and (3) inter-group preference heterogeneity. In an illustrative empirical application, we focus on the gender gap for recent university graduates using survey data from 19 countries. Men's equivalent wages are substantially higher than women's, and the equivalent wage gaps are significantly larger than the wage gaps. This is because the non-wage job dimensions are on average to men's advantage, and the preference heterogeneity is such that men care about the non-wage dimensions less than women do, and thus suffer less from having the non-wage dimensions at levels below the perfect level. This type of decompositions broadens information about labour market inequalities available to policy makers, but it is up to them to decide which of the three components of the equivalent wage gap are normatively relevant for them and whether they should aim to eliminate them." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Cukrowska-Torzewska, Ewa & Anna Matysiak (2020): The motherhood wage penalty: A meta-analysis. In: Social science research, Jg. 88/89. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2020.102416

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Ganguli, Ina, Ricardo Hausmann & Martina Viarengo (2020): Gender Differences in Professional Career Dynamics: New Evidence from a Global Law Firm. (IZA discussion paper 13174), Bonn, 44 S.

Abstract

"We examine gender gaps in career dynamics in the legal sector using rich panel data from one of the largest global law firms in the world. The law firm studied is representative of multinational law firms and operates in 23 countries. The sample includes countries at different stages of development. We document the cross-country variation in gender gaps and how these gaps have changed over time. We show that while there is gender parity at the entry level in most countries by the end of the period examined, there are persistent raw gender gaps at the top of the organization across all countries. We observe significant heterogeneity among countries in terms of gender gaps in promotions and wages, but the gaps that exist appear to be declining over the period studied. We also observe that women are more likely to report exiting the firm for family and work-life balance reasons, while men report leaving for career advancement. Finally, we show that various measures of national institutions and culture appear to play a role in the differential labor-market outcomes of men and women." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Giménez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & José Alberto Molina (2020): The Gender Gap in Time Allocation in Europe. (IZA discussion paper 13461), 42 S.

Abstract

"This article explores the gender gap in time allocation in Europe, offering up-to-date statistics and information on several factors that may help to explain these differences. Prior research has identified several factors affecting the time individuals devote to paid work, unpaid work, and child care, and the gender gaps in these activities, but most research refers to single countries, and general patterns are rarely explored. Cross-country evidence on gender gaps in paid work, unpaid work, and child care is offered, and explanations based on education, earnings, and household structure are presented, using data from the EUROSTAT and the Multinational Time Use Surveys. There are large cross-country differences in the gender gaps in paid work, unpaid work, and child care, which remain after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, although the gender gap in paid work dissipates when the differential gendered relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and paid work is taken into account. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of gender gaps in Europe, helping to focus recent debates on how to tackle inequality in Europe, and clarifying the factors that contribute to gender inequalities in the uses of time." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Goraus, Karolina, Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde (2020): How rankings disguise gender inequality: a comparative analysis of cross-country gender equality rankings based on adjusted wage gaps. (GRAPE working paper 46), Warszawa, 23 S.

Abstract

"In the case of gender wage gaps, adjusting adequately for individual characteristics requires prior assessment of several important deficiencies, primarily whether a given labor market is characterized by gendered selection into employment, gendered segmentation and whether these mechanisms differ along the distribution of wages. Whether a country is perceived as more equal than others depends on the interaction between the method of adjusting gender wage gap for individual characteristics and the prevalence of these deficiencies. We make the case that this interaction is empirically relevant by comparing the country rankings for the adjusted gender wage gap among 23 EU countries. In this relatively homogeneous group of countries, the interaction between method and underlying deficiencies leads to substantial variation in the extent of unjustified inequality. A country may change its place in the ranking by as much as ten positions - both towards greater equality and towards greater inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lauri, Triin, Kaire Põder & Rossella Ciccia (2020): Pathways to gender equality. A configurational analysis of childcare instruments and outcomes in 21 European countries. In: Social Policy and Administration, Jg. 54, H. 5, S. 646-665. DOI:10.1111/spol.12562

Abstract

"The ability to produce desired outcomes represents an important basis of the legitimacy of social policies. Nonetheless, policy outcomes have not systematically figured in the analysis of childcare regimes despite growing political interest in issues such as female employment, gender wage gap, and men's involvement in childcare. In this article, we use fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to investigate the relationship between the configuration of policy instruments, attitudes toward childcare and outcomes in 21 European countries. Our results show that there is only one mix of policy instruments consistently linked with positive gen- der equality outcomes and this route has the quality of the universal caregiver model. It also demonstrates that both a combination of policy instruments and favorable attitudinal factors are necessary to produce desirable outcomes in the gender division of paid work and unpaid childcare." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Marynissen, Leen, Karel Neels, Jonas Wood & Sarah Van de Velde (2020): Ready for parenthood? Dual earners' relative labour market positions and entry into parenthood in Belgium. In: Demographic Research, Jg. 42, S. 901-932. DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2020.42.33

Abstract

"Background: Rising symmetry in public gender roles as a result of women's rising educational and labour market participation could make both partners' labour market positions equally relevant with respect to family formation. It is, however, unclear whether and to what extent this evolution has materialised. To date, few studies have examined couple dynamics in the employment–fertility link, and especially the gendered nature of this link remains understudied. Objective: This study examines the effect of dual earners' relative income, job stability, time availability, and employment-sector-specific flexibility in terms of work regimes on the transition to parenthood in Belgium. Methods: Using longitudinal microdata from the Belgian Administrative Socio-Demographic Panel, we estimate discrete-time hazard models of conception leading to a first birth. Results: Controlling for employment characteristics at the household level, we find higher first birth hazards when the female partner has higher time availability or access to flexible work regimes, suggesting a persistent gendered precondition to parenthood. By contrast, the gender distribution of income does not affect the transition to parenthood. Contribution: This study adds to the literature by simultaneously considering a broad array of partners' employment characteristics in an institutional setting that strongly focuses on facilitating the work–family combination. Our findings suggest that there is a shift away from a traditionally gendered fulfilment of labour market preconditions to parenthood in dual earner couples, but not unambiguously towards gender-neutral patterns. Particularly, the time availability and access to flexible work regimes of the female partner rather than the male partner seem to be of importance in the couples' transition to parenthood.
" (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Max-Planck-Institut für demographische Forschung) ((en))

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Solaz, Anne, Marika Jalovaara, Michaela Kreyenfeld, Silvia Meggiolaro, Dimitri Mortelmans & Inge Pasteels (2020): Unemployment and separation: Evidence from five European countries. In: Journal of Family Research, Jg. 32, H. 1, S. 145-176. DOI:10.20377/jfr-368

Abstract

"Seit der 1970er Jahren zeichnen sich viele europäische Länder durch hohe Trennungsraten wie auch hohe Arbeitslosenquoten aus. Bislang ist jedoch unklar, in welchem Zusammenhang ökonomische Entwicklungen und die Stabilität von Partnerschaften stehen. Dieser Beitrag befasst sich damit, wie Arbeitslosigkeit, gemessen auf der Mikro- und Makroebene, das Trennungsrisiko in fünf europäischen Ländern in der Zeit vor der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise beeinflusst hat. Auf Basis umfassender Längsschnittdaten aus Belgien, Finnland, Frankreich, Deutschland und Italien zeigen die empirischen Analysen, in der diskrete Zeitmodelle verwendet werden, dass Arbeitslosigkeit in allen Ländern das Trennungsrisiko prinzipiell erhöht. Während sich vor allem auf der Mikroebene zeigt, dass die individuelle Arbeitslosigkeitserfahrung des Mannes einen positiven Einfluss auf das Trennungsrisiko ausübt, ergeben sich jedoch keine statistisch signifikanten Zusammenhänge auf der Makroebene. Der Einfluss der Arbeitslosigkeit der Frau ist weniger stark ausgeprägt als jene des Mannes und variiert deutlich zwischen den Ländern. In Deutschland und Italien, wo bis vor kurzem Familie und Erwerbstätigkeit wenig vereinbar waren, gibt es keinen statistisch signifikanten Zusammenhang von weiblicher Arbeitslosigkeit und Trennungsraten." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Barbieri, Paolo, Giorgio Cutuli, Raffaele Guetto & Stefani Scherer (2019): Part-time employment as a way to increase women's employment: (Where) does it work? In: International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Jg. 60, H. 4, S. 249-268. DOI:10.1177/0020715219849463

Abstract

"Part-time employment has repeatedly been proposed as a solution for integrating women into the labor market; however, empirical evidence supporting a causal link is mixed. In this text, we investigate the extent to which increasing part-time employment is a valid means of augmenting women's labor market participation. We pay particular attention to the institutional context and the related characteristics of part-time employment in European countries to test the conditions under which this solution is a viable option. The results reveal that part-time employment may strengthen female employment in Continental Europe and especially in Southern Europe, where an increase in part-time employment - even if it is demand-side driven - leads to greater employment participation among women. We also discuss some policy implications and trade-offs: Although part-time work can lead to higher numbers of employed women, it does so at the cost of increasing gendered labor market segregation. We analyze data from the European Labor Force Survey (EU-LFS) 1992 - 2011 for 19 countries and 188 regions and exploit regional variation over time while controlling for time-constant regional characteristics, time-varying regional labor market features, and (time-varying) confounding factors at the national level." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Boll, Christina & Andreas Lagemann (2019): The gender pay gap in EU countries. New evidence based on EU-SES 2014 data. In: Intereconomics, Jg. 54, H. 2, S. 101-105. DOI:10.1007/s10272-019-0802-7

Abstract

"Gender differences in wages are a persistent pattern in most European countries. This study analyses the earnings divide between men and women and the driving forces behind it in 26 countries. In 2014, the cross-country gender pay gap stood at 14.2%. However, country-level results differ tremendously with high gaps of more than 20% in Estonia and Germany and gaps below 5% in Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Romania. While part of the earnings divide can be explained by gendered sector affiliation and the high share of atypical employment among women, a large portion of the gender pay gap remains unexplained by the data. Even though the gender pay gap statistics are unable to identify the (non-)existence of discrimination, it still calls for diverse measures both at the state and the firm level." (Author's abstract, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Cavapozzi, Danilo, Simona Fiore & Giacomo Pasini (2019): Family dissolution and labour supply decisions over the life cycle. In: A. Börsch-Supan, J. Bristle, K. Andersen-Ranberg, A. Brugiavini, F. Jusot, H. Litwin & G. Weber (Hrsg.) (2019): Health and socio-economic status over the life course : First results from SHARE Waves 6 and 7, S. 149-155. DOI:10.1515/9783110617245-015

Abstract

"Our study findings suggest strong gender differences in the effect of household dissolution on employment probability. Whereas household dissolution has a negligible effect on men's employment behaviour, the employment probability of women increases by 4.4 per cent during the year of a household split and by 8.6 per cent during the year of divorce. The effect is driven by women with children. Although both household split and divorce shape women labour supply also after their occurrence, we found an anticipated effect on employment choices only for divorce. This pattern might be driven by the choice of women to undertake job search activities only after they stop living as a couple with their former partners. Finally, we consistently find lower magnitudes when looking at household splits compared with divorce, for both men and women.
The policy implication of these findings is that once within-family income support disappears because a family dissolves, those more at risk - women out of the labour force with dependent children - should be given assistance to manage their work and family responsibilities. Access to childcare services and flexible work arrangements may help smooth the consequences of family dissolution." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Chłoń-Domińczak, Agnieszka, Iga Magda & Pawel A. Strzelecki (2019): Patterns of labour market participation and their impact on the well-being of older women. In: A. Börsch-Supan, J. Bristle, K. Andersen-Ranberg, A. Brugiavini, F. Jusot, H. Litwin & G. Weber (Hrsg.) (2019): Health and socio-economic status over the life course : First results from SHARE Waves 6 and 7, S. 129-139. DOI:10.1515/9783110617245-013

Abstract

"We focus on identifying the patterns of the full and interrupted careers of women in 13 European countries that participated in the third and subsequent waves of SHARE, in particular the retrospective SHARELIFE survey. Using the survey results, we distinguish women who have had full or interrupted labour market careers. We also analyse differences in the patterns of women's interrupted careers among countries. We then assess whether a link exists between the pattern of labour market career and the current socio-economic situation of older women, including their health, income and life satisfaction levels. Thus, we contribute to studies on various dimensions of life at later stages." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Flynn, Lindsay B. (2019): I'll Just Stay Home : Employment Inequality Among Parents. In: Social Politics, Jg. 26, H. 3, S. 394-418. DOI:10.1093/sp/jxy023

Abstract

"How does homeownership magnify existing gender disparities in the labor markets of the rich OECD countries? Men and women, and especially mothers and fathers, respond to homeownership differently. Owners work more hours than renters but mothers experience an ownership penalty while fathers solidify their market attachment. Both responses increase the gender gap. As such, governments pursuing dual policy objectives of promoting homeownership and greater gender parity in the labor market will find their policies working at cross-purposes. This paper analyzes the effect of homeownership on labor market attachment and explains why mothers and fathers respond to it in different ways." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mikkel, Barslund & Schomaker Lea (2019): Grandparental childcare and parent's labour supply. Evidence from Europe. In: Sozialer Fortschritt, Jg. 68, H. 4, S. 371-391. DOI:10.3790/sfo.68.4.371

Abstract

"Wir untersuchen die Auswirkungen der Kinderbetreuung von Großeltern auf das Arbeitskräfteangebot der Eltern in zwölf europäischen Ländern die in SHARE vertreten sind im Zeitraum 2004 - 2015. Ein instrumentalvariabler Ansatz wird verwendet, um mit der Endogenität umzugehen. Der Zugang zu Großeltern, die sich um kleine Kinder kümmern, erhöht die Bereitschaft von Müttern zur Arbeit um 13 Prozentpunkte. Für Väter lassen sich keine Effekte feststellen. Das Ausmaß der Auswirkungen von großelterlicher Kinderbetreuung unterscheidet sich von Land zu Land, ist jedoch für die meisten untersuchten Länder von Bedeutung. Der Effekt ist für Kinder im Vorschulalter am größten, wird jedoch bei Frauen mit Kindern in der Altersgruppe von 8 bis 10 Jahren immer noch auf 8 Prozentpunkte geschätzt. Es gibt Hinweise darauf, dass Mütter mit niedrigem Bildungsstand größere Auswirkungen haben, allerdings ist der Unterschied gering. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die anhaltende Politik zur Verlängerung des Erwerbslebens von Arbeitnehmern in der Altersgruppe von 55 bis 64 Jahren die Bindung von Müttern am Arbeitsmarkt beeinträchtigen könnte, indem die zur Verfügung stehende Zeit für großelterliche Kinderbetreuung begrenzt wird. Eine erhöhte Verfügbarkeit von Kindergarten- und Kindergarteneinrichtungen kann die Auswirkungen auf das Arbeitskräfteangebot von Müttern zwar vermindern, aber nicht vollständig auflösen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Raz-Yurovich, Liat & Ive Marx (2019): Outsourcing housework and highly skilled women's labour force participation. An analysis of a policy intervention. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 35, H. 2, S. 205-224. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcz001

Abstract

"Women in developed countries still bear the brunt of care and household work, often with severe consequences for their professional careers. In addition to policies to promote gender equality in the realm of household work, state-supported outsourcing has the potential to help women reduce work-family conflict in a more optimal way and thus to realize their professional potential. We use the enactment of the Belgian Service Voucher Scheme to examine whether the introduction of a heavily state-subsidized outsourcing option increased women's employment rates at the extensive margins, especially among the highly educated. Using time-series analyses as well as difference-in-differences models, we find both short- and long-term positive changes in the employment rates of highly skilled women in Belgium after the enactment of the scheme in January 2004. Moreover, the results of our difference-in-differences models suggest that highly skilled women's increased ability to outsource housework is the main mechanism driving the change in their employment rates." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Rueda-Cantuche, José Manuel, Zornitsa Kutlina-Dimitrova & Nuno Sousa (2019): Female participation in EU exporting activities: jobs and wages. (DG Trade Chief Economist note / European Commission 2019-3), Brüssel, 21 S.

Abstract

"This analysis sheds new insights on the gender-balance of the employment opportunities supported by extra-EU exports. It shows that in 2017 more than 13 million female workers in the EU had jobs thanks to the exports of goods and services to the rest of the world. However, there is a gender gap when it comes to the employment prospects offered by extra-EU exports: only 38% of the jobs dependent on exports to the world are taken up by women. The analysis suggests that such gender gap is largely due to the concentration of female employment in the less export-oriented sectors, notably in services. Furthermore, the current note makes clear that labour compensation for female workers in exports-supported jobs stagnated in comparison to total employment over the time period considered. Although all exports-supported jobs benefit from a wage premium, there is a gender wage gap of 4 p.p." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Sánchez-Mira, Núria & Jacqueline O'Reilly (2019): Household employment and the crisis in Europe. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 33, H. 3, S. 422-443. DOI:10.1177/0950017018809324

Abstract

"The 2008 crisis had a significant impact on household employment in some European countries. An analysis of the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions generated a new cross-national typology of household employment structures and showed how these changed during the crisis and austerity period, capturing the experiences of high and low qualified households. Findings indicate that dual earning households are not always a consequence of gender equality but result from economic necessity or employment opportunities. The re-emergence of traditional male breadwinner households is often the result of female unemployment, especially for lower educated women. An increase in female single earners and workless households is evident in countries hit hardest by the employment crisis. The value of this cross-national typology, rooted in the interaction of educational effects and employment opportunities, is allowing comparison both within and between European countries, going beyond established typologies based on policy frameworks or gender cultures." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Thielemans, Gert & Dimitri Mortelmans (2019): Female labour force participation after divorce. How employment histories matter. In: Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Jg. 40, H. 2, S. 180-193. DOI:10.1007/s10834-018-9600-9

Abstract

"This article focuses on the labour market decisions of divorced women, surrounding the time of the factual separation. We build on earlier research, but explicitly distinguish between homemakers and unemployed women. Using retrospective data gathered from a sample of 1251 Flemish women from the Divorce in Flanders project (DiF 2009 - 2010), we performed anticipation-controlled event-history analysis to estimate the probability of an employment increase around the time of separation. We find that: (a) women were twice as likely to increase their employment for a short period of time after the separation, (b) there was an increasingly negative relationship between employment intensity at the time of separation and the probability of increasing employment immediately afterwards, and (c) observed differences between homemakers and unemployed women were likely due to compositional differences at the time of separation." (Author's abstract, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Bick, Alexander, Bettina Brüggemann, Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & Hannah Paule-Paludkiewicz (2018): Long-term changes in married couples' labor supply and taxes. Evidence from the US and Europe since the 1980s. (IZA discussion paper 11824), Bonn, 35 S.

Abstract

"We document the time-series of employment rates and hours worked per employed by married couples in the US and seven European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK) from the early 1980s through 2016. Relying on a model of joint household labor supply decisions, we quantitatively analyze the role of nonlinear labor income taxes for explaining the evolution of hours worked of married couples over time, using as inputs the full country- and year-specific statutory labor income tax codes. We further evaluate the role of consumption taxes, gender and educational wage premia, and the educational composition. The model is quite successful in replicating the time series behavior of hours worked per employed married woman, with labor income taxes being the key driving force. It does however capture only part of the secular increase in married women's employment rates in the 1980s and early 1990s, suggesting an important role for factors not considered in this paper. We will make the non-linear tax codes used as an input into the analysis available as a user-friendly and easily integrable set of Matlab codes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bodart, Vincent, Muriel Dejemeppe & Bruno Van der Linden (2018): The labor market in Belgium, 2000-2016. Beyond satisfactory average performances lies a strongly segmented labor market with long-term challenges. (IZA world of labor 428), Bonn, 12 S. DOI:10.15185/izawol.428

Abstract

"Viele Arbeitsmarktindikatoren deuten darauf hin, dass sich Belgien weitgehend und ohne eine Zunahme der Ungleichheit von der Großen Rezession erholt hat. Diese Entwicklungen wurden jedoch durch staatliche Lohnreglementierung, einen leichten Rückgang des real verfügbaren Einkommens und eine Zunahme der Armut unter Arbeitslosen begleitet. Zwar hat sich die Arbeitsmarktposition von Frauen im Durchschnitt verbessert, doch es bleiben dennoch große langfristige Herausforderungen bestehen. Vor allem die hohe Jugend- und Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit sowie die niedrige Erwerbsbeteiligung älterer Menschen stellen eine ernsthafte Bedrohung für den sozialen Zusammenhalt und die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung dar." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Castellano, Rosalia & Antonella Rocca (2018): Gender disparities in European labour markets. A comparison between female and male employees. In: International Labour Review, Jg. 157, H. 4, S. 589-608. DOI:10.1111/ilr.12052

Abstract

"In recent decades, the dramatic increase in female labour force participation was connected to significant changes in the economic opportunities reserved to women. However, gender disparities in the labour market still persist in many forms.
In this study we want to verify if in the European labour markets higher gender differentials are directly connected with bad economic conditions. Starting from the GGLMI, a composite indicator designed and developed by the authors in a previous study, besides updating the results, we construct other three composite indicators analysing separately female and male conditions in the labour market and the gender gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Grigoli, Francesco, Zsóka Kóczán & Petia Topalova (2018): Drivers of labor force participation in advanced economies. Macro and micro evidence. (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 265), Maastricht, 39 S.

Abstract

"Despite significant headwinds from population aging in most advanced economies (AEs), labor force participation rates show remarkably divergent trajectories both across countries and across different groups of workers. Participation increased sharply among prime-age women and, more recently, older workers, but fell among the young and prime-age men. This paper investigates the determinants of these trends using aggregate and individual-level data. We find that the bulk of the dramatic increase in the labor force attachment of prime-age women and older workers in the past three decades can be explained by changes in labor market policies and institutions, structural transformation, and gains in educational attainment. Technological advances such as automation, on the other hand, weighed on the labor supply of prime-age and older workers. In light of the dramatic demographic shifts expected in the coming decades in many AEs, our findings underscore the need to invest in education and training, reform the tax system, reduce early retirement incentives, improve the job-matching process, and help individuals combine family and work life in order to alleviate the pressures from aging on labor supply." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kil, Tine, Karel Neels, Jonas Wood & Helga A. G. De Valk (2018): Employment After Parenthood. Women of Migrant Origin and Natives Compared. In: European Journal of Population, Jg. 34, H. 3, S. 413-440. DOI:10.1007/s10680-017-9431-7

Abstract

"Motherhood negatively affects female employment in majority populations across Europe. Although employment levels are particularly low among women of migrant origin, little is known about the motherhood - employment link in migrant populations. This paper investigates whether family formation differentially affects the labour market position of migrant women and their descendants compared to natives. Using longitudinal microdata from the Belgian social security registers, 12,167 women are followed from 12 months before until 48 months after the birth of their first child for the period 1999 - 2010. Levels of activity (versus inactivity), employment (versus unemployment) and full-time employment (versus part-time employment) are compared between natives and first- and second-generation women of Southern European, Eastern European, Turkish and Moroccan origin. We find that activity and employment levels decrease to a larger extent following the transition to parenthood among women of migrant origin than among natives. With respect to activity levels, differences between second-generation women and natives are largely explained by socio-demographic and pre-birth job characteristics, while differences between first-generation women and natives are not, suggesting that other factors such as tied migration patterns determine labour market attachment among first-generation mothers. With respect to employment levels, unemployment is increasing more among women of migrant origin of both generations than among natives, also when controlling for background characteristics, which signals differential access to stable job positions as well as to family policies. In sum, the results draw attention to the challenge that parenthood creates for mothers of migrant origin in terms of retaining and gaining employment, but also to the role of labour market entry and early career positions." (Author's abstract, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Matteazzi, Eleonora, Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz (2018): Part-time employment, the gender wage gap and the role of wage-setting institutions. Evidence from 11 European countries. In: European journal of industrial relations, Jg. 24, H. 3, S. 221-241. DOI:10.1177/0959680117738857

Abstract

"We examine how far the over-representation of women in part-time jobs can explain the gender gap in hourly earnings, and also investigate how far wage-setting institutions are correlated with the overall gender wage gap and the female part-time wage gap. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2009 data for 11 European countries, we implement a double decomposition of the gender wage gap: between men and women employed full-time and between full-time and part-time working women. This shows that the wage penalty of women employed part-time occurs mainly through the segregation of part-time jobs, but the full-time gender pay gap remains mostly unexplained. At the macro level, the gender wage gap tends to be higher in countries where part-time employment is more widespread. Some wage-setting institutions seem to reduce the female full-time/part-time pay gap and the gender gap among full-time workers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Proost, Karin & Dieter Verhaest (2018): Should we tell the recruiter that we value a good work-life balance? In: Journal of personnel psychology, Jg. 17, H. 3, S. 120-130. DOI:10.1027/1866-5888/a000214

Abstract

"Although both employees and organizations increasingly realize the importance of a good work-life balance, it remains unclear how recruiters react when applicants mention a desire for balance on their CV. We conducted a between-subjects experiment (N = 96) in which one group of participants received a CV of an applicant who valued work-life balance versus a CV from which this information was omitted. Based on signaling theory and gender-role congruence theory, we suggested that mentioning balance on one's CV would lead to less favorable recruitment outcomes through a lower work ethic, especially for men. The results supported this mediation hypothesis but, contrary to expectations, showed that the mediation effect was only significant for women." (Author's abstract, © 2018 Hogrefe Verlag) ((en))

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Raz-Yurovich, Liat & Ive Marx (2018): What does state-subsidized outsourcing of domestic work do for women's employment? The Belgian service voucher scheme. In: Journal of European social policy, Jg. 28, H. 2, S. 104-115. DOI:10.1177/0958928717709173

Abstract

"The European Commission, as well as national governments and national lobby groups, have actively promoted the extension of the domestic service sector since the 1990s in response to the prospect of structurally sluggish employment growth among the least skilled and the perceived need for more social investment. The Belgian service voucher scheme, the most heavily subsidized scheme of this type in the European context, yielded growing numbers of domestic service employees, users and employing companies since its enactment in January 2004. The purpose of this study is to identify whether this scheme was successful in increasing employment rates among low-skilled women in Belgium and to assess whether its employment effects have extended beyond this group of women and affected the employment rates of medium-skilled and highly skilled women. Using time-series analyses and difference-in-differences models for the period ranging from the first quarter of 1999 until the second quarter of 2014, our results demonstrate that the scheme had both short-term and long-term positive effects on employment rates of low-skilled women. However, a reversal in their employment rates during the economic recession is also found, which brought their employment rates to a nadir in 2008. We further found that the scheme's impact extended beyond the employments of low-skilled women to positively affect the employment rates of the highly skilled women." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Albrecht, Clara, Anita Fichtl & Peter Redler (2017): Fathers in charge? Parental leave policies for fathers in Europe. In: ifo DICE report, Jg. 15, H. 1, S. 49-51.

Abstract

"Despite the fact that most parental leave policies in European countries have also entitled men, take-up rates by fathers have been low. In turn, the traditional male breadwinner model has prevailed in the EU, even though the level of education of men and women has converged fully. At the same time, fathers do want to spend time with their newborn children (Huerta et al. 2013). A trend towards the implementation of parental leave policies for fathers - also known as 'daddy months' or 'daddy quotas' - has emerged. The potential goals of these policies are greater gender equality, both in the family and in the labour market, a better work-life-balance for families and stronger bonding between father and child. Encouraged by state regulations and the EU-Directive 2010/18/EU2 parental leave take-up rates have been rising over the past decade, but still remain low." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Castellano, Rosalia & Rocca Antonella (2017): The dynamic of the gender gap in the European labour market in the years of economic crisis. In: Quality and Quantity. International Journal of Methodology, Jg. 51, H. 3, S. 1337-1357. DOI:10.1007/s11135-016-0334-1

Abstract

"Closing the gender gap in the labour market is one of the main goals of European Union and part of a wider effort to eliminate social inequalities. In recent decades, all developed countries have suffered a deep global economic crisis, that has increased social and economic inequalities. In Europe, the crisis involved problems of European stability and growth, but the crisis did not affect the euro-area countries to the same extent, and the consequences and recovery were correspondingly asymmetrical. In this paper, we analyse the changes that occurred in the gender gap in the European labour markets from 2007 to 2012 to understand if the recession has further increased or reduced the gender differentials. At this aim, we combine the use of two different statistical methodologies. Through the composite indicator methodology, we test how the rank of countries in relation to gender equality has changed in these years. In addition, the Dynamic Factor Analysis allows us to identify the factors that drive these changes. Moreover, the contextual analysis of the measures that were utilized to face the crisis could give policy makers some useful suggestions on the most efficacious actions to take." (Author's abstract, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Deschacht, Nick (2017): Part-time work and women's careers. A decomposition of the gender promotion gap. In: Journal of labor research, Jg. 38, H. 2, S. 169-186. DOI:10.1007/s12122-017-9242-y

Abstract

"This paper studies the effect of working hours on vertical sex segregation using Belgian micro-data on promotions. Using Yun decompositions we find that more than 40% of the promotion gaps between men and women can be explained by gender differences in contract hours, overtime hours and occasional late work. The fact that women often work in sectors that offer less promotion possibilities is another important factor. The presence of children strongly affects the promotion chances of female employees, but not those of the male employees in our sample. This evidence supports theories that relate the availability of part-time work to the degree of vertical segregation in countries." (Author's abstract, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Dolado, Juan J., Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Linas Tarasonis (2017): The changing nature of gender selection into employment. Europe over the Great Recession. (IZA discussion paper 10729), Bonn, 40 S.

Abstract

"The aim of this paper is to evaluate the role played by selectivity issues induced by nonemployment in explaining gender wage gap patterns in the EU since the onset of the Great Recession. We show that male selection into the labour market, traditionally disregarded, has increased. This is particularly the case in peripheral EU countries, where dramatic drops in male unskilled jobs have taken place during the crisis. As regards female selection, traditionally positive, we document mixed findings. While it has declined in some countries, as a result of increasing female LFP due to an added-worker effect, it has become even more positive in other countries. This is due to adverse labour demand shifts in industries which are intensive in temporary work where women are over-represented. These adverse shifts may have more than offset the rise in unskilled female labour supply." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dotti Sani, Giulia M. & Matteo Luppi (2017): How long is too long? Long-term effects of maternity-related job interruptions on mothers' income in 10 European countries. (Carlo Alberto notebooks 513), Turin, 27 S.

Abstract

"This article inquires whether work interruptions due to childbearing and childrearing have long-term effects on mothers' absolute and relative income in later life in ten European countries. Previous studies have found significant differences in earned income among prime-age women and men, and mothers and fathers, with mothers earning significantly less than men and childless women, both in absolute and relative terms. Many factors account for such differences, including mothers' reduced working hours and productivity, the type of job, job interruptions, self-selection and statistical discrimination. However, while research has investigated the short- and medium-term consequences of having children on mothers absolute and relative earnings, less is known about the long-term effects of childbearing and childrearing on mothers' income in later life. In this article, we investigate whether the length of maternity-related work interruptions is associated with income inequalities at a later age. The analysis, based on four waves of SHARE data (N 7,746), indicates that while short work interruptions are not negatively associated with mothers' absolute and relative earned income in later life, long work interruptions and a failure to return to work have a large impact on women's long-term economic wellbeing, especially in countries where decommodification through family and pension policies is limited." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Foster, Liam, Ruby Chau & Sam Yu (2017): The impact of defamilisation measures on gender and pensions. A comparison between the UK and seven other European countries. In: The journal of poverty and social justice, Jg. 25, H. 3, S. 199-217. DOI:10.1332/175982717X14999284090397

Abstract

"This article uses individual-based and state-led care-focused defamilisation indices to explore women's employment opportunities and experiences and their implications for pension contributions. These two types of defamilisation indices are applied to eight European countries (Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK) which shows that the UK has less generous defamilisation measures than its European counterparts. It indicates that the use of defamilisation measures along with pension policies which are not based on the male breadwinner ideology have the capacity to moderate economic inequalities between men and women in older age." (Author's abstract, © 2017 Policy Press) ((en))

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Frerk, Timm & Sigrid Leitner (2017): Zur Vereinbarkeit von Pflege und Beruf. Quantitative und qualitative Perspektiven. In: Sozialer Fortschritt, Jg. 66, H. 3-4, S. 267-283. DOI:10.3790/sfo.66.3-4.267

Abstract

"In diesem Artikel wird die Frage der Vereinbarkeit von Pflege und Erwerbstätigkeit aus quantitativer und qualitativer Perspektive in den Blick genommen. Im ersten Teil werden der Einfluss von familisierenden und defamilisierenden sozialpolitischen Maßnahmen auf die Veränderung des Erwerbsstatus von zuvor vollerwerbstätigen Pflegepersonen in 34 europäischen Regionen anhand von Mehrebenenmodellen analysiert. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass mit steigenden lohnkompensierenden Leistungen die Aufgabe der Erwerbsarbeit wahrscheinlicher wird. Der qualitative Abschnitt fokussiert erwerbstätige pflegende Söhne in Deutschland und zeigt, dass die Erwerbsarbeit trotz Pflege aufrechterhalten bleibt. Dabei wird die Bedeutung informeller Unterstützung und defamilisierender Maßnahmen für die Vereinbarkeit dargestellt. Abschließend wird der Mehrwert beider Forschungsperspektiven herausgearbeitet." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Hauret, Laetitia & Donald R. Williams (2017): Cross-national analysis of gender differences in job-satisfaction. In: Industrial relations, Jg. 56, H. 2, S. 203-235. DOI:10.1111/irel.12171

Abstract

"Research over the past two decades has found significant gender differences in subjective job satisfaction, with the result that women report greater satisfaction than men in some countries. This paper examines the so-called 'gender paradox' using data from the European Social Survey for a subset of fourteen countries in the European Union. We focus on the hypothesis that women place higher values on certain work characteristics than men, which explains the observed differential. Using estimates from Probit and ordered Probit models, we conduct standard Blinder - Oaxaca decompositions to estimate the impact that differential valuations of characteristics have on the gender difference in self-reported job satisfaction. The results indicate that females continue to report higher levels of job satisfaction than do men in some countries, and the difference remains even after controlling for a wide range of personal and job characteristics and working conditions. The decompositions suggest that a relatively small share of the gender differential is attributable to gender differences in the weights placed on working conditions in most countries. Rather, gender differences in job characteristics contribute relatively more to explaining the gender - job satisfaction differential." (Author's abstract, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Kanji, Shireen & Robin Samuel (2017): Male breadwinning revisited. How specialisation, gender role attitudes and work characteristics affect overwork and underwork in Europe. In: Sociology, Jg. 51, H. 2, S. 339-356. DOI:10.1177/0038038515596895

Abstract

"We examine how male breadwinning and fatherhood relate to men's overwork and underwork in western Europe. Male breadwinners should be less likely to experience overwork than other men, particularly when they have children, if specialising in paid work suits them. However, multinomial logistic regression analysis of the European Social Survey data from 2010 (n = 4662) challenges this position: male breadwinners, with and without children, want to work fewer than their actual hours, making visible one of the downsides of specialisation. Male breadwinners wanting to work fewer hours is specifically related to the job interfering with family life, as revealed by a comparison of the average marginal effects of variables across models. Work - life interference has an effect over and beyond the separate effects of work characteristics and family structure, showing the salience of the way work and life articulate." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bertrand, Marianne, Patricia Cortés, Claudia Olivetti & Jessica Pan (2016): Social norms, labor market opportunities, and the marriage gap for skilled women. (NBER working paper 22015), Cambrige, Mass., 65 S. DOI:10.3386/w22015

Abstract

"In most of the developed world, skilled women marry at a lower rate than unskilled women. We document heterogeneity across countries in how the marriage gap for skilled women has evolved over time. As labor market opportunities for women have improved, the marriage gap has been growing in some countries but shrinking in others. We discuss a theoretical model in which the (negative) social attitudes towards working women might contribute towards the lower marriage rate of skilled women, and might also induce a non-linear relationship between their labor market prospects and their marriage outcomes. The model is suited to understand the dynamics of the marriage gap for skilled women over time within a country with set social attitudes towards working women. The model also delivers predictions about how the marriage gap for skilled women should react to changes in their labor market opportunities across countries with more or less conservative attitudes towards working women. We test the key predictions of this model in a panel of 23 developed countries, as well as in a panel of US states." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bünning, Mareike & Matthias Pollmann-Schult (2016): Family policies and fathers' working hours. Cross-national differences in the paternal labour supply. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 30, H. 2, S. 256-274. DOI:10.1177/0950017015578999

Abstract

"Despite extensive research on the effect of family policies on the labour supply of mothers, little is known about how these policies affect fathers' labour market outcomes. Using European panel data (EU-SILC) from 2003 to 2009 and multi-level models, this study analyses the effect of family policies on fathers' working hours. The results indicate that fathers work less than childless men if they live in countries that offer well paid, non-transferable parental leave for fathers, short parental leave for mothers and generous family allowances. The effects, however, are strongly contingent on fathers' educational levels. Whereas short maternal leaves are associated with shorter working hours among highly educated fathers, generous family allowances and father friendly parental leave schemes reduce the working hours of less educated fathers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Castro-García, Carmen & Maria Pazos-Moran (2016): Parental leave policy and gender equality in Europe. In: Feminist economics, Jg. 22, H. 3, S. 51-73. DOI:10.1080/13545701.2015.1082033

Abstract

"This article uses data from 2008 - 10 to analyze parental leave policies in twenty-one European countries and their influence on men's behavior. It examines entitlement characteristics, such as nontransferability, duration, payment, compulsory period, and other policies to assess their effect on the proportion of leave men use out of the total parental leave in each country. The findings, which suggest that a large majority of men take nontransferable and highly paid leave, and a small minority take other types, provide the basis for developing the Parental Leave Equality Index (PLEI). PLEI ranks countries by the degree to which parental leave policies reinforce or diminish the gendered division of labor. Results indicate that although Iceland's parental leave policies do the most to advance gender equity, no country has equal, nontransferable, and well-paid leave for each parent. This policy arrangement would be a precondition to men's and women's equal participation in childcare." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Davaki, Konstantina (2016): Differences in men's and women's work, care and leisure time. Study for the FEMM committee. Brüssel, 63 S. DOI:10.2861/381996

Abstract

"The economic crisis has profoundly affected the labour market and private life of men and women. This study examines the interrelation of policies with the ways women and men allocate time to paid work, care and leisure and the gendered outcomes produced in different socio-economic and cultural settings. It shows that policies are powerful tools which can contribute to a better work-life balance and transform gender roles in accordance to the targets of EU2020 strategy and EU28 commitment to gender equality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Feldman, Karie & Brian K. Gran (2016): Is what's best for dads best for families? Paternity leave policies and equity across forty-four nations. In: Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Jg. 43, H. 1, S. 95-119.

Abstract

"In a global economy, paternity leave policies represent one of the most significant expansions of the welfare state that seek to help fathers respond to socio-economic pressures on their work and families. Policy makers who strongly promote socio-economic equity may respond to these global changes with new policy formulae meant to encourage involvement of fathers in their families. Nevertheless, scholars have limited understanding of who benefits from paternity leave policies and what these benefits mean to families. The present study is a comparative analysis of paternity leave policies across forty-four countries. This paper first presents a typology of paternity leave policies. This typology consists of seven criteria that range from duration of benefits to amount of benefits to employment security. This typology is then applied to forty-four countries. The present study demonstrates that a surprisingly small number of countries are devoted to family equity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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McDaniel, Anne (2016): The role of cultural contexts in explaining cross-national gender gaps in stem expectations. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 32, H. 1, S. 122-133. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcv078

Abstract

"In recent decades, women have made impressive inroads in education and the labour market in most countries; yet, they often remain under-represented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions. One way to understand women's under-representation in STEM is to examine how boys and girls develop their career expectations during adolescence, as this is a critical time when individuals begin to plan their futures. Prior cross-national research finds that gender stratification in education, work, and politics in a country affects the size of male-favourable gender gaps on math and science achievement tests for adolescents. Countries with more gender equality have smaller gender gaps in math and science. But, it is unknown how gender stratification or cultural ideologies impact the development of boys' and girls' STEM career expectations. Do countries with less gender equality have smaller male-favourable gender gaps in STEM career expectations? Do countries with less gender egalitarian have larger male-favourable gender gaps in STEM career expectations? Using data on student's occupational expectations from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment and data on country-level gender stratification and genderegalitarian ideologies from the World Bank and European Values Survey, I study the gender gap in 15-year- olds' expectations to enter a STEM career across 24 countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Olivetti, Claudia & Barbara Petrongolo (2016): The evolution of gender gaps in industrialized countries. (IZA discussion paper 9659), Bonn, 47 S.

Abstract

"Women in developed economies have made major inroads in labor markets throughout the past century, but remaining gender differences in pay and employment seem remarkably persistent. This paper documents long-run trends in female employment, working hours and relative wages for a wide cross-section of developed economies. It reviews existing work on the factors driving gender convergence, and novel perspectives on remaining gender gaps. The paper finally emphasizes the interplay between gender trends and the evolution of the industry structure. Based on a shift-share decomposition, it shows that the growth in the service share can explain at least half of the overall variation in female hours, both over time and across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Olivetti, Claudia & Barbara Petrongolo (2016): The evolution of gender gaps in industrialized countries. In: Annual review of economics, Jg. 8, S. 405-434. DOI:10.1146/annurev-economics-080614-115329

Abstract

"Women in developed economies have made major advancements in labor markets throughout the past century, but remaining gender differences in pay and employment seem remarkably persistent. This article documents long-run trends in female employment, working hours, and relative wages for a wide cross section of developed economies. It reviews existing work on the factors driving gender convergence, and novel perspectives on remaining gender gaps. Finally, the article emphasizes the interplay between gender trends and the evolution of the industry structure. Based on a shift-share decomposition, it shows that the growth in the service share can explain at least half of the overall variation in female hours, both over time and across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Piasna, Agnieszka & Anke C. Plagnol (2016): Arbeitsplatzqualität und weibliche Erwerbsbeteiligung in Europa. In: WSI-Mitteilungen, Jg. 69, H. 4, S. 273-282. DOI:10.5771/0342-300X-2016-4-273

Abstract

"Zahlreiche Untersuchungen belegen, dass die Entscheidung zur beruflichen Weiterarbeit nach der Familiengründung einerseits von persönlichen Umständen abhängt, wie der Notwendigkeit, zum Haushaltseinkommen beizutragen, andererseits aber auch von institutionellen Einflussgrößen wie dem Angebot an erschwinglichen Kinderbetreuungsplätzen. Ergänzend hierzu untersuchen wir anhand von Daten des European Working Conditions Surveys, inwieweit die Qualität der Arbeitsplätze die Erwerbsbiografie von Frauen in den EU-27-Ländern beeinflusst. Unsere Analyse betrachtet drei Einzeldimensionen: Arbeitsplatzsicherheit, Arbeitszeitqualität und intrinsische Arbeitsqualität. Wir stellen fest, dass die Arbeitsplatzqualität von Müttern kleiner Kinder im Schnitt höher ist als die von Frauen ohne betreuungspflichtige Kinder, insbesondere hinsichtlich Arbeitszeit und Beschäftigungssicherheit. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse belegen für die gesamte EU-27 einen weitgehend einheitlichen Zusammenhang zwischen dem Status von Frauen als Mütter kleiner Kinder und der Arbeitsplatzqualität." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Pollmann-Schult, Matthias (2016): What mothers want: The impact of structural and cultural factors on mothers' preferred working hours in Western Europe. In: Advances in life course research, Jg. 29, H. September, S. 16-25. DOI:10.1016/j.alcr.2015.11.002

Abstract

"This study investigates how social policies, gender norms, and the national working time regime shape mothers' preferred working hours. Using data from the European Social Survey (ESS) for 15 countries across Western Europe, the study reveals that generous public child care and cultural support for gender equality are associated with smaller gaps in the preferred working hours between mothers and childless women. High levels of financial support for families, in contrast, predict larger gaps in preferred working hours. The analysis also indicates that a low prevalence of non-standard work and high levels of work-time flexibility reduce the differences in preferred employment hours between mothers and non-mothers. Individual characteristics such as education, gender ideology, and the partners' socioeconomic status greatly impact women's preferred employment hours; however, they do not modify the effect of motherhood. This study concludes that the impact of parenthood on women's employment hours is highly contingent upon various institutional and cultural factors." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

Abstract

"Time and time again it has been proven that more diverse organisations not only outperform those which are less diverse, but are also most likely to attract and retain the most talented professionals.
In addition, the link between women in the workplace and a country's economic growth is closely connected. Despite this, globally women are not paid or rewarded equally to their male colleagues and remain underrepresented in the workplace, as well as proportionally less represented in senior roles.
In compiling this report and recommendations, we spoke to over 11,500 women and men, asking their opinion and views on women in the world of work today.
While the findings vary by country and by sector, we have discovered common themes and sometimes surprising results about what can be done by business leaders today to ensure that women continue to advance in their careers and achieve better representation at senior levels. Our findings are also accompanied with insight from a number of successful women at the top of their professions, who share their experience from both a personal and professional perspective. Although gender diversity has improved and we have seen less of a disparity in the views and experiences between men and women, when compared to our 2015 report, our research shows that organisations can still do significantly more to narrow the gap. They hold the key to advancing women in the workplace and have an opportunity and responsibility to close the gender divide.
This report has been compiled using data gathered between November 2015 and January 2016. The findings of our gender diversity report are based on a survey of over 11,500 male and female respondents from across the world (57% female, 42% male and 1% preferring not to say).
We have used country specific data where there was a minimum of 100 responses per country: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dieckhoff, Martina, Vanessa Gash & Nadia Steiber (2015): Measuring the effect of institutional change on gender inequality in the labour market. In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 39, H. March, S. 59-75. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2014.12.001

Abstract

"This article examines the differential impact of labour market institutions on women and men. It carries out longitudinal analyses using repeat cross-sectional data from the EU Labour Force Survey 1992 - 2007 as well as time series data that measure institutional change over the same period. The results contribute to the literature on gendered employment, adding important insights into the impact of labour market institutions over and above family policies that have been the focus of most prior studies on the topic. We find differential effects of institutional change on male and female outcome. Our findings challenge the neo-classical literature on the topic. While our results suggest that men benefit more clearly than women from increases in employment protection, we do not find support for the neo-classical assertion that strong trade unions decrease female employment. Instead, increasing union strength is shown to have beneficial effects for both men's and women's likelihood of being employed on the standard employment contract. Furthermore, in line with other researchers, we find that rising levels of in kind state support to families improve women's employment opportunities." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Guetto, Raffaele, Ruud Luijkx & Stefani Scherer (2015): Religiosity, gender attitudes and women's labour market participation and fertility decisions in Europe. In: Acta sociologica, Jg. 58, H. 2, S. 155-172. DOI:10.1177/0001699315573335

Abstract

"The Second Demographic Transition (SDT) theory underlines the importance of changing values and attitudes to explain the trend toward low fertility and raising female labour market participation. We contribute to this debate comparing religiosity and gender attitudes over several European countries using three waves of the European Values Study (1990, 1999 and 2008). By dealing with the issues of measurement invariance and endogeneity between values and behaviour, our results support some critiques of the SDT theory. The pace of the process of sociocultural change has not been the same across European countries and the forerunners of the SDT, that is, the most secularized and gender-egalitarian societies, now have the highest female labour market participation rates and the highest fertility. We provide evidence for a 'macro - micro paradox' regarding the role of values on family behaviours. Religiosity is positively correlated with fertility and housewifery, while gender attitudes are only correlated with women's labour market decisions. These correlations are stronger in more traditional countries, even if aggregate fertility is lower. We stress the necessity to integrate cultural and structural explanations, suggesting the lack of family policies and the rigidity of the family formation process as possible mechanisms to unravel this paradox." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Koelet, Suzana, Helga de Valk, Ignace Glorieux, Ilse Laurijssen & Didier Willaert (2015): The timing of family commitments in the early work career. Work-family trajectories of young adults in Flanders. In: Demographic Research, Jg. 32, S. 657-690. DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2015.32.22

Abstract

"Objective: This article examines the diverse ways in which young adults develop both their professional career and family life in the years immediately after they complete their education. Building a career and starting a family often occur simultaneously in this stage of life. By studying the simultaneous developments in these life domains, we can gain a better understanding of this complex interplay.
Methods: The data consist of a sample of 1,657 young adults born in 1976 who were interviewed as part of the SONAR survey of Flanders at ages 23, 26, and 29 about their education, their entry into and early years on the labour market, and their family life. Sequence analysis is used to study the timing of union formation and having children among these young adults, as well as how these events are related to their work career. Multinomial regression analysis is applied to help us gain a better understanding of the extent to which these life course patterns are determined by education and economic status at the start of the career.
Results: The results reveal a set of work-family trajectories which vary in terms of the extent of labour market participation and the type and timing of family formation. Various aspects of the trajectory are found to be determined by different dimensions of an individual's educational career (duration, level, field of study). Education is more relevant for women than for men, as a man's trajectory is more likely than a woman's to be determined by the first job.
Conclusions: By using a simultaneous approach which takes into account both family and work, this life course analysis confirms that men have a head start on the labour market, and examines the factors which influence the distinct trajectories of young women and men." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Koutentakis, Franciscos (2015): Gender unemployment dynamics. Evidence from ten advanced economies. In: Labour, Jg. 29, H. 1, S. 15-31. DOI:10.1111/labr.12044

Abstract

"The paper investigates gender unemployment dynamics in 10 advances economies applying a recent methodology on widely available Labour Force Surveys data. We calculate the job finding and separation rates for each gender and use them to construct the steady-state unemployment gap as well as two counterfactual gender unemployment gaps: one generated by differences only in job finding rates and the other by differences only in separation rates. We find that in all countries the gender unemployment gap attributed to differences in the job finding rate is lower than the gap attributed to differences in the separation rate, suggesting that gender differences in the separation rate are the major factor behind the gender unemployment gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Abendroth, Anja-Kristin, Matt L. Huffman & Judith Treas (2014): The parity penalty in life course perspective. Motherhood and occupational status in 13 European countries. In: American Sociological Review, Jg. 79, H. 5, S. 993-1014. DOI:10.1177/0003122414545986

Abstract

"Research documents a wage penalty for mothers compared to childless women. We demonstrate there is also an occupational status penalty to motherhood. Interrogating supply- and demand-side explanations of the motherhood penalty from the life course perspective, we formulate and test original hypotheses about the short-term and long-run career implications of parity-specific births. We analyze longitudinal data from the European Community and Household Panel for 13 European countries and eight time points between 1994 and 2001. Our fixed-effects models show that status losses for a first birth are not just short-term but accumulate over the career. The timing of a birth in a woman's life course matters only for older women, who experience a significant penalty to third births. Although the personal strategies that women use to minimize the career costs of motherhood (e.g., having only one child) prove ineffective, our cross-national evidence shows that public policies are linked to the motherhood penalty in occupational status." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Mendolicchio, Concetta & Thomas Rhein (2014): The gender gap of returns on education across West European countries. In: International journal of manpower, Jg. 35, H. 3, S. 219-249., 2013-08-18.

Abstract

"We study the gender specific private returns on education (RE) in Europe in a comparative perspective. We extend the model of de la Fuente (2003) by estimating the parameters by gender and introducing maternity leaves and benefits. We analyse the impact of the public policy variables evaluating the elasticities with respect to unemployment benefits, marginal and average tax rates, maternity leave and childcare benefits.
We estimate the Mincerian coefficients, with the Heckman selection model, for 12 West European countries using the EU-SILC data (2007). We then use them as input to calibrate the decision model.
The RE of females tend to be higher than those of males in all the Europeans countries but Germany, Netherlands and Sweden. The gender gap can be explained mainly by the wage premia and labour income taxes which more than compensate the negative effects on females' returns triggered by higher unemployment rates and maternity-related benefits.
The tax system has the most pronounced effect on RE. An increase in the marginal tax rates has a negative impact. An increase in the average tax rates can have a negative or positive impact, depending on the progressivity of the tax system. An increase in unemployment benefits and maternity or child-care benefits has a negative but fairly small impact.
We compute the RE using a model which allows us to take into account and assess the significance of relevant variables: wage premium, income tax, some public transfers and benefits, costs of the investments. Moreover, we estimate the wage premia using relatively recent EU-SILC data. Finally, we compare 12 EU countries spanning quite different labour market conditions and institutions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cooke, Lynn Prince, Jani Erola, Marie Evertsson, Michael Gähler, Juho Härkönen, Belinda Hewitt, Marika Jalovaara, Man-Yee Kan, Torkild Hovde Lyngstad, Letizia Mencarini, Jean-Francois Mignot, Dimitri Mortelmans, Anne-Rigt Poortman, Christian Schmitt & Heike Trappe (2013): Labor and love. Wives' employment and divorce risk in its socio-political context. In: Social Politics, Jg. 20, H. 4, S. 482-509. DOI:10.1093/sp/jxt016

Abstract

"We theorize how social policy affects marital stability vis-a-vis macro and micro effects of wives' employment on divorce risk in 11 Western countries. Correlations among 1990s aggregate data on marriage, divorce, and wives' employment rates, along with attitudinal and social policy information, seem to support specialization hypotheses that divorce rates are higher where more wives are employed and where policies support that employment. This is an ecological fallacy, however, because of the nature of the changes in specific countries. At the micro level, we harmonize national longitudinal data on the most recent cohort of wives marrying for the first time and find that the stabilizing effects of a gendered division of labor have ebbed. In the United States with its lack of policy support, a wife's employment still significantly increases the risk of divorce. A wife's employment has no significant effect on divorce risk in Australia, Flanders, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Finland, Norway, and Sweden, wives' employment predicts a significantly lower risk of divorce when compared with wives who are out of the labor force. The results indicate that greater policy support for equality reduces and may even reverse the relative divorce risk associated with a wife's employment." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Gerecke, Megan (2013): A policy mix for gender equality? Lessons from high-income countries. (International Institute for Labour Studies. Discussion paper 215), Genf, 74 S.

Abstract

"Over the past 15 years, important gains have been made in gender equality. Gender gaps in educational attainment have shrunk substantially. In fact, in many high-income countries, young women's educational attainment now exceeds that of young men. At the same time, most countries have seen a significant increase in female employment rates - a trend which slowed only with the recent financial crisis." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Heimeshoff, Lisa-Marie & Helen Schwenken (2013): "Das bisschen Haushalt ... sagt mein Mann" - Die politische Regulierung von Hausarbeit und Implikationen für die geschlechtliche Arbeitsteilung. In: Arbeit. Zeitschrift für Arbeitsforschung, Arbeitsgestaltung und Arbeitspolitik, Jg. 22, H. 3, S. 199-211. DOI:10.1515/arbeit-2013-0305

Abstract

"Die ungleiche geschlechtliche Arbeitsteilung von Betreuungs- und Haushaltstätigkeiten ist persistent und wird, wie Zeitnutzungsstudien zeigen, auch nicht verändert durch eine partielle Auslagerung an Hausangestellte oder externe Dienstleister. In der EU wird der Sektor als Wachstumsmarkt begriffen. Der Beitrag analysiert Ansätze der politischen Regulierung von Haushalts- und Betreuungsarbeit in Bezug auf die sich daraus ergebenden Implikationen für die geschlechtliche und internationale Arbeitsteilung. Es wird die These vertreten, dass eine geschlechtergerechtere Arbeitsteilung kein Anliegen der Regulierungsanstrengungen ist und diese sogar eher restaurative Effekte zeigt, die auf die Externalisierung und weitere Kommodifizierung dieser Arbeiten deuten und einen Klassenbias in sich tragen. Der Beitrag nimmt die politischen Regulierungen in Deutschland sowie französische und belgische Haushaltsscheckmodelle in den Blick. Letztere gelten als gesellschaftlich breit akzeptierte Maßnahme zur Formalisierung des Sektors. Der Beitrag schließt mit einer Problematisierung der in die Regulierungen eingelassenen Trennung von Produktions- und Reproduktionssphäre, die mit Ursache für die fortgesetzte geschlechterhierarchische Arbeitsteilung ist. Daher lohnt sich das Wiederaufgreifen von Vorschlägen zu integrierenderen Perspektiven, in denen die Kommodifizierung nicht weiter "banalisiert" (Jany-Catrice), sondern thematisiert wird." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Triventi, Moris (2013): The gender wage gap and its institutional context. A comparative analysis of European graduates. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 27, H. 4, S. 563-580. DOI:10.1177/0950017012460322

Abstract

"This article examines whether there is a gender gap in monthly wages among recent graduates in 11 European countries, and which variables account for it. We extend previous works considering a broader range of variables including perceived skills, responsibility at work, family obligations and attitudes to family and work. Regression analyses applied to data from the 'Research into Employment and professional FLEXibility' (REFLEX) survey (2005) show that in all countries there is a significant 'raw wage gap', but with noticeable cross-country variation. Decomposition analyses show that the 'residual wage gap' (discrimination) is lower in Nordic countries and higher in the Czech Republic, with the United Kingdom, continental and southern European countries placed in between them. Employment characteristics and working hours are the most important factors accounting for the gender gap. Wage discrimination is lower in countries with high trade union density, centralized collective bargaining, family-friendly policies, and high level of women's empowerment in society." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Vercruyssen, Anina & Bart van de Putte (2013): Work-family conflict and stress: indications of the distinctiveness of role combination stress for Belgian working mothers. In: Community, work & family, Jg. 16, H. 4, S. 351-371. DOI:10.1080/13668803.2013.776515

Abstract

"Research on the relation between work-family conflict (WFC) and stress focuses either on domain/role-specific stress (e.g. work stress), which is by definition and, operationalisation attributed to the respective role, or it focuses on 'general' stress, which can be a too broad or too general concept to measure stress related to WFC. This study introduces the concept of 'role combination stress' to indicate a stress that is more specifically related to the work-family role system and WFC than general and role-specific stress. The analysis of data on 429 Flemish working mothers shows that role combination stress is indeed a distinct type of stress." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bothfeld, Silke (2012): Kindererziehung und Pflegezeiten: Wie anpassungsfähig sind die Sozialversicherungssysteme? Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich. (ZeS-Arbeitspapier 2012/03), Bremen, 59 S.

Abstract

"Idealtypisch basieren Sozialversicherungssysteme Bismarck'scher Prägung auf dem Beitrags- und Äquivalenzprinzip, sie haben die Erwerbsarbeit zum Ausgangspunkt und die Lebensstandardsicherung der Beitragszahlenden (und deren Familien) zum Ziel. In Ländern wie Deutschland, Belgien, Österreich und Frankreich ist eine kontinuierliche, vollzeitige bzw. durchschnittlich entlohnte Erwerbsarbeit daher eine notwendige Voraussetzung für eine hinreichende Absicherung bei Arbeitslosigkeit oder im Alter. Für die Absicherung der 'neuen sozialen Risken' Kinderbetreuung und Pflege bieten sie somit tendenziell ungünstige Ausgangsbedingungen; betreuende und pflegende Personen sind durch das Konstrukt der 'Versorgerehe' auf den familiären Haushalt verwiesen.
Die vergleichende Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung hat in den vergangenen Jahren ein wachsendes Interesse am Wandel des Bismarck'schen Wohlfahrtsstaates entwickelt, dem lange Zeit ein starkes Beharrungsvermögen bei gleichzeitig anwachsender Dysfunktionalität unterstellt wurde. Während über den Rückbau der Systeme umfassende Erkenntnisse vorliegen, ist relativ wenig bekannt über Expansionstendenzen, die dem Äquivalenzprinzip, aber auch der allgemeinen Tendenz des Rückbaus sozialer Sicherungssysteme entgegenlaufen. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht die Policies, die in den vier typischen Sozialversicherungsstaaten für die Absicherung von Pflegenden und Kinder Betreuenden in der Arbeitslosen- und Rentenversicherung in den vergangenen 20 Jahren institutionalisiert wurden.
Die mehrfach vergleichende Analyse macht Folgendes deutlich. Erstens, kommt der Versorgerehe trotz ihrer teilweisen 'Modernisierung' eine nach wie vor große Bedeutung zu - vor allem bei der Alterssicherung von Eltern und Pflegepersonen. Damit bleibt ein zentrales Strukturmotiv konservativ-korporatistischer Sozialstaaten weitgehend erhalten. Zweitens wird jedoch durch die arbeitsrechtliche Institutionalisierung von Freistellungsphasen und deren sozialrechtlicher Sicherung in allen vier Ländern der Verweis auf den ehelichen Kontext 'entschärft'. Allerdings gilt dies in vollem Maße nur für Kinder betreuende Personen, die sowohl in der Arbeitslosen- als auch der Rentenversicherung während der gesetzlichen Freistellungsphasen Erwerbstätigen vergleichbar gut abgesichert sind, während für Pflegepersonen nach wie vor wichtige Sicherungslücken entstehen können. Drittens lassen sich im internationalen Vergleich idiosynkratische Entwicklungen erkennen, so dass eine im Hinblick auf ein großzügiges Sicherungsniveau von Erziehenden und Pflegenden gerichtete Policy 'gute Praktiken' aus allen vier Ländern zusammenführen würde. Grundsätzlich gleichen spezifische Ausgleichsregeln jedoch immer nur die akute Unterbrechung an Beitragszahlungen aus, nicht aber die reduzierten Einkommens- und Aufstiegschancen, Senioritätsgewinne oder Arbeitsmarktrisiken, die durch Erwerbsunterbrechungen oder Teilzeitphasen entstehen." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Mandel, Hadas (2012): Winners and losers: the consequences of welfare state policies for gender wage inequality. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 28, H. 2, S. 241-262. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcq061

Abstract

"Cross-national studies of the impact of welfare states on gender inequality tend to overlook socio-economic divisions among women. This article challenges the implicit assumption that welfare states have uniform effects on the economic attainments of women, arguing that the impact of state intervention is necessarily conditioned by women's relative advantage or disadvantage in the labour market. Based on Luxembourg Income Study microdata for 21 advanced countries, the paper analyses gender wage gaps among highly skilled and low skilled men and women. The findings suggest that welfare state policies interact with socio-economic position: they limit the economic rewards of highly skilled women, but do not adversely affect, and by some measures actually benefit, those who are less skilled. Highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of social policies for different groups of women, the article concludes that more research is needed to explore differentiated approaches to reconciling work and family, rather than addressing universal work - family tensions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Anghel, Brindusa, Sara de la Rica & Juan J. Dolado (2011): The effect of public sector employment on women's labour market outcomes. (IZA discussion paper 5825), Bonn, 62 S.

Abstract

"This paper addresses the role played by Public Sector (PS) employment across different OECD labour markets in explaining: (i) gender differences regarding choices to work in either PS or private sector, and (ii) subsequent changes in female labour market outcomes. To do so, we provide some empirical evidence about cross-country gender differences in choice of employment in the PS vs. the private sector, using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), in the light of different theories on gender behaviour in the labour market. We also analyze the main determinants of the hourly wage gaps across these two sectors for males and females separately. Finally, we document the main stylized facts about labour market transitions by male and female workers among inactivity, unemployment, working in the PS and working in the private sector." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Olivetti, Claudia & Barbara Petrongolo (2011): Gender gaps across countries and skills. Supply, demand and the industry structure. (CEP discussion paper 1093), London, 42 S.

Abstract

"The gender wage gap varies widely across countries and across skill groups within countries. Interestingly, there is a positive cross-country correlation between the unskilled-to-skilled gender wage gap and the corresponding gap in hours worked. Based on a canonical supply and demand framework, this positive correlation would reveal the presence of net demand forces shaping gender differences in labor market outcomes across skills and countries. We use a simple multi-sector framework to illustrate how differences in labor demand for different inputs can be driven by both within-industry and between-industry factors. The main idea is that, if the service sector is more developed in the US than in continental Europe, and unskilled women tend to be over-represented in this sector, we expect unskilled women to suffer a relatively large wage and/or employment penalty in the latter than in the former. We find that, overall, the between-industry component of labor demand explains more than half of the total variation in labor demand between the US and the majority of countries in our sample, as well as one-third of the correlation between wage and hours gaps. The between-industry component is relatively more important in countries where the relative demand for unskilled females is lowest." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Brugiavini, Agar, Giacomo Pasini & Elisabetta Trevisan (2010): Maternity and labour market outcome. Short and long term effects. (Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging. Discussion paper 222), Mannheim, 12 S.

Abstract

"The aim of this paper is to till this gap by analyzing the long term effects of childbearing, i.e. the effect of motherhood on pension income at retirement, given the labour market participation of women at childbirth. Since labour market attachment is higher for younger generations, it is relevant for policy makers to Look at the behaviour of women who want to work excluding those who plan a 'family-life' (see also Lyberaki et al. in chapter 12 of this volume). SHARELIFE is particularly suitable for this analysis since it contains complete life time histories, including all the employment and maternity episodes experienced by European women currently aged 50 and over. Moreover, details on maternity leave provisions and other institutional features of the SHARE countries are collected and provided together with the survey data. These institutional features allow us to investigate if and how the presence of maternity benefits affects the labour market participation decisions of women after childbirth and, consequently, the impact of pension income at retirement." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Hummelsheim, Dina & Jochen Hirschle (2010): Mother's employment: cultural imprint or institutional governance? Belgium, West and East Germany in comparison. In: European Societies, Jg. 12, H. 3, S. 339-366. DOI:10.1080/14616691003596973

Abstract

"In the public and scientific discussion on the political scope of action for improving employment opportunities for mothers, cultural aspects of female labour market participation often remain ignored. This study argues that employment decisions of mothers vary not only with the institutional settings but also with the dominant representative culture of a region. In order to study the effects of culture and institutions on maternal employment, Belgium, East, and West Germany are selected for empirical analysis. In a first step the article demonstrates that these regions differ considerably in terms of family political measures but also in terms of the cultural orientations with regard to female employment. While both Belgium and East Germany (but not West Germany) have well-developed public childcare systems for the under-3s, East Germans have a more favourable opinion towards female employment than Belgians. In a second step the study shows by means of panel analyses that these cultural differences strongly determine female employment behavior. Results indicate that both East and West German mothers have significantly higher employment probabilities in the long-run than Belgian mothers. The well-developed childcare infrastructure and the short parental leave lead only temporarily - right after childbirth - to higher employment rates among Belgian mothers. With increasing age of the child the significance of cultural dispositions result in higher overall employment probabilities among German mothers. These empirical findings support the theoretical approach of Pfau-Effinger in treating both institutional structures and culture as (equally) crucial factors in explaining cross-national differences in mothers' employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Lyberaki, Antigone, Platon Tinios & George Papadoudis (2010): A-typical work patterns of women in Europe. What can we learn from SHARELIFE? (Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging. Discussion paper 221), Mannheim, 16 S.

Abstract

"The second half of the twentieth century was a time of rapid social transformation. Nowhere were the changes more radical than in women's participation in society and work. Women increasingly claimed a fuller and more active position in all societal functions. Though all parts of Europe and all social strata were affected, this process was unevenly distributed over time and space and driven by a variety of influences. Such influences could have been structural changes in production, transformations in the function of the family and last, but not least, attitudes in what woman's position ought to be, as reflected in shifts of policy priorities. This period of rapid change corresponds to the lifetime of individuals in the SHARE survey. When today's 50+ population were young girls, the world they were entering was very difficult from today. The long term social changes correspond to lived experience of women in the SHARE sample. The women in SHARE were witnesses to the foundation, flowering and restructuring of the Welfare State. Social policy stances towards maternity and family polices as well as labour market institutions were defining fissures between certain forms of the so-called 'European Social Model'. This paper begins exploring how these factors - labour and social policy transformation - were reflected in the lives of women in the SHARELIFE sample." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Damme, Maike van, Matthijs Kalmijn & Wilfred Uunk (2009): The employment of separated women in Europe. Individual and institutional determinants. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 25, H. 2, S. 183-197. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcn042

Abstract

"Studies on the economic consequences of divorce for women have paid little attention to changes in employment. In this article, we investigate changes in employment for separating women and the impact of individual and institutional factors on these changes using data on 13 countries from the European Community Household Panel (1994-2001). Our dynamic analyses of the odds of employment entry and exit, and changes in working hours demonstrate that European women only modestly increase employment after separation, although in some countries this change is larger than in others. Important individual-level determinants of employment changes are education and labour market experience (positive effects), health (positive effect), and the presence of young children (negative effect). Institutional factors have opposing influences: more generous public childcare provisions encourage the employment of separated women, whereas more generous allowances for single parents discourage employment. The results underline the importance of distinguishing between income- and employment-related institutions in studying outcomes of union dissolution." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Dieckhoff, Martina & Nadia Steiber (2009): In search of gender differences in access to continuing training. Is there a gender training gap and if yes, why? (Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung. Discussion papers SP 1 2009-504), Berlin, 35 S.

Abstract

"Geschlechterunterschiede im Zugang zu beruflicher Weiterbildung gelten weiterhin als wichtige Ursache weiter bestehender Ungleichheiten zwischen den Geschlechtern in Bezug auf deren Chancen am Arbeitsmarkt und deren beruflichen Erfolg. Allerdings schaffen empirische Studien bis dato keine Klarheit darüber, ob bzw. welche Geschlechterunterschiede im Weiterbildungsverhalten tatsächlich bestehen. Die vorliegende Analyse untersucht, auf Basis harmonisierter Survey-Daten des European Social Survey 2004, berufsbezogene Weiterbildungsaktivitäten in Europa und testet eine Reihe von mikroökonomischen und soziologischen Theorien (z.B. Humankapitaltheorie, Geschlechtersegregation am Arbeitsmarkt, Diskriminierung durch den Arbeitgeber etc.), die häufig zur Erklärung von Geschlechterunterschieden in der Teilnahme an Weiterbildung herangezogen werden. Der Beitrag untersucht die Mechanismen, die einem potenziell geschlechtsspezifischen Teilnahmeverhalten an beruflicher Weiterbildung zugrunde liegen. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse zeigen, dass männliche Arbeitnehmer, ceteris paribus, häufiger an berufsbezogener Weiterbildung teilnehmen als weibliche Arbeitnehmer. Als Fazit kann festgestellt werden, dass die vorherrschenden theoretischen Ansätze mehr Erklärungskraft für das Weiterbildungsverhalten von Männern als für jenes von Frauen haben. Vor allem in Bezug auf weibliches Weiterbildungsverhalten bei Präsenz von Betreuungspflichten für kleine Kinder zeigen sich vorherrschende Erklärungsmodelle als wenig valid." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Hummelsheim, Dina (2009): Die Erwerbsbeteiligung von Müttern. Institutionelle Steuerung oder kulturelle Prägung? Eine empirische Untersuchung am Beispiel von Belgien, West- und Ostdeutschland. Wiesbaden: VS, Verl. für Sozialwissenschaften, 213 S.

Abstract

"Die Studie geht der Frage nach, in welchem Ausmaß die Erwerbsbeteiligung von Müttern von kulturellen Familienleitbildern einerseits und von familienpolitischen Maßnahmen andererseits geprägt wird. Im Rahmen eines Ländervergleichs zwischen Belgien, West- und Ostdeutschland werden Unterschiede im Hinblick auf das Wohlfahrtsregime, die familienpolitischen Maßnahmen und die kulturellen Leitbilder dargestellt. Die empirische Untersuchung wird mithilfe der Daten des Sozio-ökonomischen Panels (SOEP) und der Panelstudie belgischer Haushalte (PSBH) durchgeführt (Beobachtungszeitraum 1992-2003). Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass trotz des gut ausgebauten Kinderbetreuungssystems in Belgien, sowohl ost- als auch westdeutsche Mütter langfristig höhere Erwerbswahrscheinlichkeiten besitzen. Die Ursache dafür ist im kulturellen Kontext zu sehen, der in Belgien am deutlichsten auf das traditionelle Familienmodell abzielt. Die Untersuchung veranschaulicht sowohl die Möglichkeiten als auch die Grenzen familienpolitischer Intervention." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Lohmann, Henning, Frauke H. Peter, Tine Rostgaard & Stephen P. Jenkins (2009): Towards a framework for assessing family policies in the EU. (OECD social, employment and migration working papers 88), Paris, 94 S. DOI:10.1787/223883627348

Abstract

"This report presents the results of a first attempt to create a framework for assessing the performance of national family policies. The report is part of a joint EU and OECD project, which aims to help the EU Government Expert Group on Demographic Issues in evaluating national family policies. The idea behind the framework is that it allows individual countries to compare their overall performance in the area of family policies with the performance of other countries. The main focus of the report is policies for families with smaller children. The framework provides a set of cross-nationally comparable indicators on contexts, policy measures, and outcomes, organised on a systematic basis. The policy measure indicators presented in the report cover leave schemes, early childhood education and care, family benefits and workplace policies. The indicators build upon, interalia, previous work by the OECD in various studies on family-friendly policies that were carried out on a cross-national basis using different sets of indicators. Most of these indicators are today available in the OECD Family Database. Wherever the OECD Family Database contains indicators for the majority of EU member states and OECD countries, these data have been used in the present study. Otherwise, data from other cross-national databases have been included. Each indicator in the framework is presented as a single-standing indicator in the general absence of scientific consensus on different aggregation weights. In the report no explicit ranking of countries has been attempted, instead the relative position of countries has been illustrated with the help of standard deviation scores. In the last part of the report the linkages between policy aims and the various context, outcome and policy measures are indicated, which help construct 'score cards'. This 'score card-approach' is illustrated for three countries: Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom. The report offers tools for assessment that may be developed further, and should offer an approach to using the OECD Family Database, acknowledging this unique data source for cross-country comparisons in the field of family policy." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Casarico, Alessandra & Alessandro Sommacal (2008): Labor income taxation, human capital and growth. The role of child care. (CESifo working paper 2363), München, 32 S.

Abstract

"This paper studies the implications of introducing child care in the human capital production function when assessing the effects of labor income taxation on growth. We develop an OLG model where formal schooling and child care enter the human capital production function as complements and we compare it with a model where only formal schooling matters for skill formation. Using a numerical analysis we find that, depending on the quality of child care services relative to parental care, the omission of child care from the technology of skills' formation can significantly bias the results related to the effects of labor income taxation on growth." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Del Boca, Daniela, Silvia Pasqua & Chiara Pronzato (2008): Market work and motherhood decisions in contexts. (IZA discussion paper 3303), Bonn, 28 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we explore the impact of social policies and labour market characteristics on women's decisions regarding work and childbearing, using data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). We estimate the two decisions jointly and, in addition to personal characteristics, include variables related to the childcare system, parental leave arrangements, family allowances, and labour market flexibility. Our empirical results show that a non-negligible portion of the differences in participation and fertility rates for women from different European countries can be attributed to the characteristics of these institutions, and that the environmental effects vary by educational level. While labour market arrangements, such as part-time opportunities (when well-paid and protected), have a larger impact on the outcomes of women with higher educational levels, childcare and optional parental leaves have a larger impact on the fertility and participation decisions of women at lower educational levels." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Moss, Peter & Marta Korintus (Hrsg.) (2008): International review of leave policies and related research 2008. (Employment relations research series 100), London, 383 S.

Abstract

"This report is about leave entitlements, mainly for workers with dependant children. As the report shows, working parents today in most countries are entitled to a range of different types of leave, going under a variety of different names. Moreover, in a number of countries the distinction between types of leave is increasingly blurred. This report is produced by an international network on leave policy and research, consisting of over 40 experts from 24 countries, mostly in Europe. The network covers policies for parents and others with care responsibilities, including for adult relatives, as well as policies available to the whole population such as life course career breaks and time accounts. But initially, priority is being given to leave policies focused on the care of children. Among the purposes of this network are: the exchange of information about policies, both in individual countries and by international organisations, and research on leave policies; the provision of a forum for the cross-national discussion of issues and trends in policy and research; and providing a source of regularly updated information on policies and research, including:
- the three-year leave period: too long or not?
- employers' perspectives and involvement and
- policies to increase fathers' use of leave." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Misra, Joya, Michelle J. Budig & Stephanie Moller (2007): Reconciliation policies and the effects of motherhood on employment, earnings and poverty. In: Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Jg. 9, H. 2, S. 135-155. DOI:10.1080/13876980701311588

Abstract

"We examine the consequences of welfare state strategies on women's economic outcomes in ten countries. These strategies are 1) the primary caregiver strategy, focused on valuing women's care work; 2) the primary earner strategy, focused on encouraging women's employment; 3) the choice strategy, which provides support for women's employment or caregiving for young children; and 4) the earner-carer strategy, focused on helping men and women balance both care and employment. We analyze the effects of motherhood and marital status on employment rates, annual earnings, and poverty rates. Our study suggests that the strategy taken by the earner-carer strategy may be most effective at increasing equality for both married and single mothers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Theunissen, Gert, Marije Verbruggen, Anneleen Forrier & Luc Sels (2007): Career sidestep, wage stepback? The impact of different types of career breaks on wages. (WSE report), Louvain, 22 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we simultaneously study the wage effects of different types of interruptions, allowing for differential effects of break duration in function of the nature of the interruption. The types we will study are family leaves, unemployment spells, self-employment spells, educational leaves and a residual category, comprising 'private' reasons to interrupt one's career (e.g. travel, rest, voluntary work). Family leaves and unemployment spells have received ample attention in literature, being perhaps the most obvious reasons why an individual is not working at some point in time. Our addition of self-employment spells and educational leaves is not only inspired by their under-exposure in research on career breaks, but also by the growing recognition among policy-makers of the crucial role of lifelong learning and entrepreneurship in sustaining economic growth. It is far from certain whether career interruptions that are advocated by the government as a potential boost to employment and entrepreneurship also pay off for individuals once they return to wage employment. Besides this focus on different types of career breaks, our study also complements previous research by conducting separate analyses for men and women. In doing so, we investigate to what extent the impact of the different types of career breaks differ between male and female workers. The paper is structured as follows. First, we discuss the literature on career breaks. Then we present the methodology and the results. The paper concludes with a discussion on the key implications of the research and some suggestions for future research." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Abstract

"90 Prozent aller Mitgliedsstaaten der Internationalen Arbeitsorganisation (ILO) haben inzwischen die Kernarbeitsnormen gegen Diskriminierung ratifiziert und sich damit zur Verabschiedung entsprechender Gesetze verpflichtet. Doch Gesetze allein reichen nicht aus, um Diskriminierung wirksam zu bekämpfen. Der Bericht lenkt die Aufmerksamkeit von Regierungen und Sozialpartnern auch auf neue Formen der Diskriminierung, die noch zu wenig Beachtung finden - beispielsweise aufgrund von Alter, HIV/AIDS, eines ungesunden Lebensstils oder der Wahrscheinlichkeit bestimmter genetischer Krankheiten. Die meisten Fälle von Diskriminierung aber betreffen nach wie vor Frauen. Die ILO betont in ihrem Bericht daher die herausragende Bedeutung von Maßnahmen zur besseren Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf. So sollten familienfreundliche Maßnahmen nicht nur Frauen, sondern auch Männern offen stehen. In einigen Ländern, wie Island und Dänemark, wurden bestimmte Maßnahmen gezielt für Männer vorgesehen, beispielsweise ein besonderer Kinderbetreuungsurlaub nur für Männer. Nur wenn deutlich gemacht werde, dass die Wahrnehmung von Familienpflichten durch Männer sozial gewollt und akzeptiert wird, könne ein notwendiger Umdenkprozess stattfinden. Auch die Sozialpartner könnten durch entsprechende Ausgestaltung von Tarifverträgen einen Beitrag leisten, etwa indem Erziehungspausen nicht zu einer niedrigeren Einstufung führen. In Deutschland werden Frauen immer noch weniger eingestellt, rücken seltener in Führungspositionen und verdienen deutlich weniger als Männer. So beträgt das Lohngefälle zwischen Frauen und Männern laut dem Gleichstellungsbericht der EU-Kommission 22 Prozent, womit Deutschland in der EU auf dem viertletzten Platz landet. Auch die EU nennt die schlechte Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf als zentrales Hindernis auf dem Weg zu mehr Gleichberechtigung.
Weitere Empfehlungen der ILO zur Bekämpfung der Diskriminierung weltweit:
- Gesetzgebung, die nicht nur Diskriminierung verbietet, sondern aktiv Ziele zur Förderung der Gleichberechtigung setzt;
- Unterstützung der Sozialpartner, um Gleichstellungsfragen in der Tarifpolitik zu verankern;
- gezielte Arbeitsmarktpolitik zur Förderung und Einbindung benachteiligter Gruppen;
- Bindung der öffentlichen Auftragsvergabe an die Einhaltung des Diskriminierungsverbots;
- Einrichtung von Antidiskriminierungskommissionen beziehungsweise Kommissionen für Lohngleichheit;
- Förderung der Lohngerechtigkeit auf betrieblicher Ebene durch 'Kartierung' der Lohnstruktur, um Lohndiskrepanzen sichtbar zu machen und abzubauen;
- Einbindung von Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen in die Länderprogramme der ILO für menschenwürdige Arbeit ebenso wie in die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, die staatliche Kreditvergabe und Investitionsförderpolitik." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

Abstract

"The Global Employment Trends for Women Brief 2007 focuses on whether the tendency toward increased participation has continued more recently and whether women have found enough decent and productive jobs to really enable them to use their potential in the labour market and achieve economic independence. The approach is based on updates and analysis of a number of major labour market indicators. These include: labour force participation; unemployment; sector and status of employment; wages/earnings; and education and skills. Taken together, they show whether women who want to work actually do so, whether women find it harder to get a job than men, differences in the type of work done by women and men and equality of treatment in areas ranging from pay to education and training." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Cockx, Bart Leo Wim, Stephane Robin & Christian Goebel (2006): Income support policies for part-time workers: a stepping-stone to regular jobs? An application to young long-term unemployed women in Belgium. (IZA discussion paper 2432), Bonn, 20 S.

Abstract

"We verify whether an income support policy for part-time workers in Belgium increases the transition from unemployment to non-subsidised, 'regular' employment. Using a sample of 8630 long-term unemployed young women, whose labour market history is observed from 1998 to 2001, we implement the 'timing of events' approach proposed by Abbring and Van den Berg (2003) to control for selection effects. Our results suggest that the policy has a significantly positive effect on the transition to non-subsidised employment when one does not control for unobserved heterogeneity. This effect remains positive, but becomes insignificant, when one corrects for selection on unobservable characteristics." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Del Boca, Daniela, Silvia Pasqua & Chiara Pronzato (2006): The impact of institutions on motherhood and work. (ISER working paper 2006-55), Colchester, 22 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we aim to explore the impact of social policies and labour market characteristics on the woman's joint decisions of working and having children, using data from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). We include in the analysis, beyond personal characteristics, variables related to the childcare system, parental leave arrangements, and labour market flexibility. Results show that a non negligible portion of the differences in participation and fertility rates across women from different European countries can be attributed to the characteristics of these institutions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Mandel, Hadas & Moshe Semyonov (2006): A welfare state paradox. State interventions and women's employment opportunities in 22 countries. In: American Journal of Sociology, Jg. 111, H. 6, S. 1910-1949.

Abstract

"This study explores the role played by the welfare state in affecting women's labor force participation and occupational achievement. Using data from 22 industrialized countries, the authors examine the consequences of state interventions for both women's employment patterns and gender inequality in occupational attainment. The findings reveal a twofold effect: developed welfare states facilitate women's access into the labor force but not into powerful and desirable positions. Specifically, nations characterized by progressive and developed welfare policies and by a large public service sector tend to have high levels of female labor force participation, along with a high concentration of women in female-typed occupations and low female representation in managerial occupations. The findings provide insights into the social mechanisms underlying the relations between welfare states' benefits to working mothers and women's participation and achievements in the labor market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Vermeulen, Frederic (2006): A collective model for female labour supply with non-participation and taxation. In: Journal of population economics, Jg. 19, H. 1, S. 99-118. DOI:10.1007/s00148-005-0007-1

Abstract

Der Beitrag präsentiert ein Discrete-Choice-Modell des Erwerbsverhaltens von Frauen. Sowohl die weiblichen Präferenzen als auch der haushaltsinterne Allokationsprozess werden ökonometrisch identifiziert. Das Modell inkorporiert Nichterwerbstätigkeit und nichtlineare Besteuerung. Es wird auf Daten des belgischen Mikrozensus angewendet und soll dazu dienen, zwei steueraufkommensneutrale Versionen des Steuerreformgesetzes von 2001 zu evaluieren. Es werden in geringem Umfang positive verhaltensmäßige Reaktionen auf die Reformen feststellt. Die Reformen stellen jedoch keine eindeutige Verbesserung der Wohlfahrtssituation dar. Die erste steueraufkommensneutrale Reform (die eigentliche Reform und eine Steuerpauschale pro Haushalt) wirkte sich günstiger für Frauen aus, die in einer Paarbeziehung leben, als die zweite (die eigentliche Reform und eine proportionale Herabsetzung des verfügbaren Haushaltseinkommens). (IAB)

Zitatform

Plantenga, Janneke & Chantal Remery (2005): Reconciliation of work and private life. A comparative review of thirty European countries. Brüssel, 96 S.

Abstract

Der Bericht gibt einen Überblick über die verschiedenen politischen Ansätze zur Vereinbarkeit von Arbeit und Familie in 30 europäischen Ländern. Er informiert über die aktuelle Politik bezüglich Kinderbetreuung, Urlaubsregelungen, flexible Arbeitsarrangements und andere auf die Vereinbarkeit abzielende Ansätze, wie etwa die finanzielle Unterstützung berufstätiger Eltern. Nationale, öffentliche Strategien werden ebenso betrachtet wie Regelungen auf Branchen- oder Firmenebene. Neben den 25 EU-Mitgliedstaaten werden drei EWR-Länder (Island, Norwegen und Liechtenstein) sowie zwei Beitrittskandidaten (Bulgarien und Rumänien) in den internationalen Vergleich einbezogen. Es zeigt sich, dass es innerhalb Europas erhebliche Unterschiede zwischen Art und Umfang der politischen Maßnahmen zur Förderung der Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie gibt. Jedes Land hat seine eigene, einzigartige Kombination aus Kinderbetreuung, Urlaubsregelungen, flexiblen Arbeitszeiten und finanzieller Förderung. Insbesondere bei der Kinderbetreuung für die jüngsten Kinder scheint es Engpässe zu geben, wobei dieser Bedarf jedoch hier und da durch Elternurlaub bzw. informelle Arrangements gedeckt wird. Elternurlaub wirkt sich jedoch nicht immer zugunsten der Geschlechtergleichstellung aus. Zur Förderung der gleichmäßigeren Inanspruchnahme der Urlaubsansprüche oder anderer flexible Arbeitszeitregelungen spielt die Gestaltung dieser Regelungen eine zenrale Rolle. Diesbezüglich wird es als wichtig betrachtet, eine Segmentierung der Arbeitsmärkte zu vermeiden, indem auch bei Teilzeitarbeitsverhältnissen oder flexibler Beschäftigung für volle soziale Absicherung, Training und Beförderung gesorgt wird. Es wird für ein stärkeres Engagement der Arbeitgeber in Sachen Geschlechtergleichstellung plädiert. Die optimale Aufteilung der Zuständigkeiten zwischen Staat, Arbeitnehmer und Arbeitgeber ist jedoch schwierig, da die tatsächlichen Kosten der zur Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie getroffenen Maßnahmen unter Umständen - durch Lohnkürzungen und/oder geringere Beschäftigungsmöglichkeiten - auf die Arbeitnehmer abgewälzt werden können. Wahrscheinlich werden die negativen Auswirkungen auf die Arbeitnehmer minimal gehalten, wenn die Arbeitgeber nur eine geringe Rolle spielen und die meisten Kosten kollektiv getragen werden. (IAB)

Zitatform

Rürup, Bert & Sandra Gruescu (2005): Familienorientierte Arbeitszeitmuster. Neue Wege zu Wachstum und Beschäftigung. Gutachten. Berlin, 50 S.

Abstract

"An den Bedürfnissen von Eltern und Pflegepersonen ausgerichtete Arbeitszeitmuster haben nicht nur positive Effekte für die Unternehmen und Erwerbspersonen, sondern auch auf makroökonomischer Ebene. Ergänzend zu betriebswirtschaftlichen Untersuchungen erörtert das Gutachten, welche Wachstumspotenziale sich damit erzielen lassen. Wenn mehr Frauen mit Kindern ihre Erwerbswünsche realisieren können, wächst das Arbeitskräftepotenzial. Durch eine bessere Koordination von familiären und beruflichen Anforderungen ist ein Anstieg der Geburtenrate wahrscheinlich. Anhand verschiedener Teilzeitmodelle zeigt das Gutachten, wie sich die Interessen von Unternehmen und die Wünsche der Mitarbeiter vereinbaren lassen. Weitere Anregungen gibt der Blick auf Beispiele aus dem europäischen Ausland." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

Zitatform

Spiess, Katharina & A. Ulrike Schneider (2003): Interactions between care-giving and paid work hours among European midlife women, 1994 to 1996. In: Ageing and society, Jg. 23, H. 1, S. 41-68. DOI:10.1017/S0144686X02001010

Abstract

"This paper uses data from the European Community Household Panel surveys of 1994 and 1996 to study the association between changes in care-giving and changes in weekly work hours. Our sample comprises women aged 45 - 59 years who participated in the labour force in at least one of the two years studied. Controlling for country variation, we find significant relationships between starting or increasing informal care-giving and changes in weekly work hours. No such association is found however among women terminating a care-giving commitment or reducing their care hours. Starting care-giving significantly reduces work hours for women in northern European countries (except Ireland). By contrast, women in southern Europe and Ireland respond to an increase in care-giving hours by a smaller increase or a higher decrease in work hours than non care-givers. In summary, our results show that the impact of care-giving on adjustments of weekly work hours is asymmetrical and that it differs in southern and northern Europe." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Gustafsson, Siv S. & Daniele E. Meulders (Hrsg.) (2000): Gender and the labour market. Econometric evidence of obstacles to achieving gender equality. (Applied econometrics association), Basingstoke: Macmillan, 336 S.

Abstract

"The purpose of Gender and the Labour Market is to analyze the remaining obstacles in achieving gender equality. The first chapters present different aspects of the gender earnings gap. Different counteries are studied and special emphasis is made on particular sectors and occupations. The next chapters deal with the postponement of first birth by educated women, the non-cooperative behavior in time use, gender differences in job and working mobility, transitions between employment status, discriminations contained in tax systems and poverty rates of single parent households." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))