Female breadwinner – Erwerbsentscheidungen von Frauen im Haushaltskontext
Nach wie vor ist die ungleiche Verteilung von Erwerbs- und Familienarbeit zwischen den Partnern der Regelfall. Traditionelle familiäre Arrangements werden dabei durch institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen bevorzugt. Die Folge ist, dass Frauen immer noch beruflich zurückstecken - auch wenn sie den Hauptteil des Haushaltseinkommens erarbeiten und damit die Rolle der Familienernährerin übernehmen.
Dieses Themendossier widmet sich den Bedingungen und Auswirkungen der Erwerbsentscheidung von Frauen sowie empirischen Studien, die sich mit der Arbeitsteilung der Partner im Haushaltskontext befassen.
Mit dem Filter „Autorenschaft“ können Sie auf IAB-(Mit-)Autorenschaft eingrenzen.
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Literaturhinweis
To Grandmother's House We Go: Informal Childcare and Female Labor Mobility (2026)
Zitatform
Anstreicher, Garrett & Joanna Venator (2026): To Grandmother's House We Go: Informal Childcare and Female Labor Mobility. In: International Economic Review, Jg. 67, H. 3, S. 1043-1068. DOI:10.1111/iere.70067
Abstract
"We document how childcare costs and the location of extended family influence the labor supply and mobility of US women. Women return to their home locations immediately before fertility events, suggesting that informal childcare needs may motivate home migration. Women who live near their parents have lower child earnings penalties. We then build a model of labor supply and migration to assess the impacts of childcare subsidies. Childcare subsidies increase earnings and mobility among US women and ignoring migration can understate the welfare benefits of these policies, especially for college-educated women and those whose parents' locations have poor amenities." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Workplace Flexibility and the Motherhood Penalty: Evidence from the Diffusion of Remote Work (2026)
Zitatform
Basso, Gaetano, Maria de Paola, Salvatore Lattanzio & Matteo Paradisi (2026): Workplace Flexibility and the Motherhood Penalty: Evidence from the Diffusion of Remote Work. (RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2026,140), Berlin, 40 S., App.
Abstract
"We study whether workplace flexibility is a key driver of the motherhood penalty. Exploiting the sharp and heterogeneous diffusion of work-from-home (WFH) contracts after COVID-19 in a difference-in-differences framework, we combine administrative data on the universe of Italian WFH contracts with matched employer--employee records, mother-father links, fertility records, and firm balance sheets. Greater exposure to flexible work substantially reduces mothers' post-childbirth earnings losses, primarily through higher weeks worked, lower part-time incidence, lower parental leave take-up, and improved career progression. IV estimates indicate that holding a WFH contract offsets about 77% of mothers' earnings losses around childbirth. Gains are larger among younger, lower-earning, and commuting mothers, in households where the father is the dominant earner, and in occupations with steeper hours-earnings profiles, consistent with flexibility relaxing constraints where most binding. Fathers' own earnings do not respond to flexibility around childbirth, yet fathers' exposure to flexible work reduces mothers' earnings losses by a comparable magnitude, pointing to household-level time constraints as a central mechanism. Consistent with this interpretation, fertility, a joint household decision, rises for women more exposed to flexibility, as flexibility lowers the labor-market cost of the marginal child. A counterfactual exercise shows that the life-cycle widening of the gender earnings gap would have been 10.7% smaller under current WFH diffusion and up to 29.4% smaller if all remotable jobs had adopted flexible arrangements." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Simulationsrechnungen zum offenen Brief und Reformvorschlag für das Ehegattensplitting (2026)
Zitatform
Blömer, Maximilian Joseph & Andreas Peichl (2026): Simulationsrechnungen zum offenen Brief und Reformvorschlag für das Ehegattensplitting. In: ifo Schnelldienst digital, Jg. 7, H. 7, S. 1-14.
Abstract
"Am 2. Juni 2026 formulierten Ökonominnen und Ökonomen einen offenen Brief an die Bundesregierung mit einem Reformvorschlag für das Ehegattensplitting. Dieser ersetzt das heutige Ehegattensplitting durch ein begrenztes Realsplitting und verwendet die daraus resultierenden Mehreinnahmen vollständig für höhere Leistungen an Familien mit Kindern. Die zugrunde liegenden Simulationsrechnungen wurden mit dem ifo Mikrosimulationsmodell erstellt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen drei zentrale Befunde: Erstens steigen die Erwerbsanreize insbesondere für Zweitverdienende; das zusätzliche Arbeitsangebot beläuft sich auf rund 49 000 Vollzeitäquivalente. Zweitens profitieren im Durchschnitt vor allem Paare mit Kindern und Alleinerziehende, während kinderlose Paare mit stark ungleichen Einkommen belastet werden. Drittens ist die Reform bei Berücksichtigung von Verhaltensanpassungen aufkommensneutral." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Einleitung: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer geschlechtergerechten Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik (2026)
Zitatform
Bothfeld, Silke, Christian Hohendanner, Petra Schütt & Aysel Yollu-Tok (2026): Einleitung: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer geschlechtergerechten Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik. In: S. Bothfeld, C. Hohendanner, P. Schütt & A. Yollu-Tok (Hrsg.) (2026): Geschlechtergerecht gestalten. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik, S. 9-26.
Abstract
"Wer über Geschlechtergerechtigkeit spricht, kommt an der begrifflichen Unterscheidung zwischen Gleichberechtigung und Gleichstellungspolitik nicht vorbei. Diese Differenz ist grundlegend für das Verständnis politischer, sozialer und ökonomischer Maßnahmen zur Überwindung geschlechterbezogener Ungleichheiten. Gleichberechtigung meint die rechtlich garantierte Gleichheit von Frauen und Männern – wie sie etwa in Artikel 3 des Grundgesetzes verankert ist. Sie garantiert allen Menschen denselben Zugang zu Rechten: zum Bildungssystem, zum Arbeitsmarkt, zu politischen Ämtern. Doch so unverzichtbar diese rechtliche Grundlage ist, so unzureichend ist sie, wenn es um die tatsächliche Teilhabe in einer nach wie vor von struktureller Ungleichheit geprägten Gesellschaft geht. Hier setzt die Gleichstellungspolitik an: Sie begnügt sich nicht mit der formalen Gleichheit, sondern zielt auf faktische Chancengleichheit. Für die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter wurde daher im Artikel 3 Abs. 2 (»Männer und Frauen sind gleichberechtigt.«) 1994 der Zusatz aufgenommen »Der Staat fördert die tatsächliche Durchsetzung der Gleichberechtigung von Frauen und Männern und wirkt auf die Beseitigung bestehender Nachteile hin«. Die Gleichstellungspolitik soll in diesem Sinne bestehende Benachteiligungen – etwa beim Einkommen, bei der Verteilung von Sorgearbeit, beim Zugang zu Führungspositionen oder in den sozialen Sicherungssystemen – sichtbar machen und Instrumente entwickeln, um Ungleichheiten abzubauen. Gleichstellungspolitik bedeutet nicht Privilegierung oder Sonderbehandlung, sondern sie ist Ausdruck eines demokratischen Gestaltungsauftrags: Sie soll sicherstellen, dass Gleichberechtigung nicht nur auf dem Papier steht, sondern im gesellschaftlichen Alltag wirksam wird. Dieser Sammelband greift zentrale Fragen dieser Gestaltungsaufgabe im Rahmen der Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik auf und versammelt Beiträge, die sich mit geschlechterbezogenen Ungleichheiten am Arbeitsmarkt und im Sozialstaat befassen – empirisch fundiert, theoretisch reflektiert und mit einem gemeinsamen Ziel: Geschlechtergerechtigkeit nicht nur zu fordern, sondern Hinweise und Vorschläge für die Gestaltung von konkreten Strukturen und politischen Maßnahmen zu präsentieren." (Textauszug, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Are Gender Norms Shaped by Who Earns More? (2026)
Zitatform
Brosch, Hanna, Elisabeth Grewenig, Philipp Lergetporer, Katharina Werner & Helen Zeidler (2026): Are Gender Norms Shaped by Who Earns More? (CESifo working paper 12674), München, 28 S.
Abstract
"Gender norms about parental labor supply are central to explaining persistent gender inequalities in the labor market, yet their causal determinants remain poorly understood. We examine whether people's gender attitudes are driven by mothers' and fathers' earnings, which may shape views about the efficient allocation of paid work and care. In a large-scale representative vignette experiment in Germany (N > 10,000), we randomly vary pre-childbirth earnings and measure whether respondents recommend that the mother (father) stay home with the child while the father (mother) works full-time. Without specifying earnings, 90% recommend that the mother stay home. This share remains high when we specify that the mother earns less (93%). When she earns more, the share drops sharply to 47%, yet nearly half of respondents still recommend that the mother stay home. This asymmetric response rejects a purely income-based explanation of gender norms. Thus, economic circumstances shape gender attitudes, but deeply rooted norms persist even when they conflict with financial incentives." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Predicting Labor Force Types (2026)
Zitatform
Castro, Rui, Jiyoung Kim, Fabian Lange, Jérôme Larivière & Markus Poschke (2026): Predicting Labor Force Types. (IZA discussion paper / IZA Network @ LISER 18718), Bonn: IZA Network @ LISER, 57 S.
Abstract
"A small group of people accounts for a large majority of flows between labor market states and of spells in unemployment and non-employment. In this paper, we ask whether it is possible to identify those who will be weakly attached to the labor market during their prime working-age years using information available earlier in life. Using the long panel of the NLSY79, we first identify individuals with weak labor market attachment between ages 30 and 50 based on their observed employment, unemployment, and non-employment histories. This reveals a group that is disproportionately female, less educated, and in poorer health. We then examine whether membership in this group can be predicted using information collected before age 30 that is not used in the classification itself. We find that information from ages 22 to 29 predicts later labor market attachment with high accuracy. Early labor market experiences and health are particularly important predictors. The ability to predict labor market attachment decades in advance suggests that persistent individual differences play an important role in shaping labor market outcomes throughout the life cycle." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Gender Norms and the Labor Market (2026)
Zitatform
Cortés, Patricia, Jisoo Hwang, Jessica Pan & Uta Schönberg (2026): Gender Norms and the Labor Market. (VoxEU columns / Centre for Economic Policy Research), London, 4 S.
Abstract
"As overt discrimination has receded and human capital gaps have narrowed, economists have increasingly turned to gender norms to explain why women continue to earn less than men, shoulder the bulk of unpaid care work, and suffer earnings penalties following childbirth. This column discusses how gender norms – both those people internalise and those enforced by peers – act as powerful constraints on women’s labour market outcomes. Understanding how these norms form, persist, and can change has major implications for the design of effective labour market policy. The challenge is not merely to alter private preferences, but to shift shared expectations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
Beteiligte aus dem IAB
Schönberg, Uta; -
Literaturhinweis
Overlooked Potential? Childcare Services and Ukrainian Refugee Mothers in Germany (2026)
Zitatform
Gambaro, Ludovica, Sophia Schmitz, Mathias Huebener & C. Katharina Spieß (2026): Overlooked Potential? Childcare Services and Ukrainian Refugee Mothers in Germany. In: Demography, Jg. 63, H. 3, S. 979-1005. DOI:10.1215/00703370-12665544
Abstract
"This article examines whether refugee mothers in high-income countries can benefit from universal childcare services. Using a large, representative survey of Ukrainian refugees in Germany linked with administrative area-level information, we estimate the effects of childcare services on mothers’ participation in language and integration courses, employment, language skills, social contact with Germans, feeling welcome, and subjective well-being. To address potential biases from omitted variables and endogeneity, we complement ordinary least-squares estimations with a formal assessment of unobserved factors and an instrumental variable approach, using local childcare coverage rates as the instrument. Results indicate that mothers increase their participation in integration and language classes as well as labor market engagement when their child attends childcare services. Additionally, childcare attendance is associated with mothers’ improved German skills and more frequent contact with German residents, confirming that childcare centers can foster bridging ties. We find no effect on maternal well-being. Although our selected outcomes cannot capture the full range of Ukrainian refugee mothers’ experiences in Germany, the outcomes extend beyond traditional labor market indicators, underscoring the broader integrative function of childcare services." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Gender-specific labour market shocks and household bargaining power. (2026)
Zitatform
Gihleb, Rania, Osea Giuntella & Dor Morag (2026): Gender-specific labour market shocks and household bargaining power. In: The Economic Journal. DOI:10.1093/ej/ueag060
Abstract
"Using machine learning and product-level data on single men’s and single women’s consumption patterns, we develop an index that quantifies the „gendered‟ nature of consumer goods. We use the index to investigate how gender-specific labour market shocks influence spending patterns within heterosexual households. Our findings reveal that industrial robot adoption, which worsened men’s relative economic position, shifted household consumption toward products predominantly purchased by single women. In contrast, the expansion of fracking, which boosted demand for young and less skilled men, yields suggestive but less robust evidence of increased spending on goods favoured by single men. Although neither shock significantly altered total spending on children’s products, robot exposure led to a reallocation of spending toward goods more commonly purchased for daughters than for sons." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Gender Differences in Parents’ Well-Being Reverse During Unemployment (2026)
Zitatform
Hendrick, Sara, Melissa J. Williams & Emily C. Bianchi (2026): Gender Differences in Parents’ Well-Being Reverse During Unemployment. In: Personality and social psychology bulletin, S. 1-19. DOI:10.1177/01461672261439419
Abstract
"Past research suggests that parenthood tends to predict well-being for men more than women. We propose that during involuntary unemployment, this pattern will reverse, such that parenthood will predict well-being for women more than men. Because breadwinning remains central to societal expectations of fatherhood, employment allows fathers to simultaneously fulfill parental and professional obligations. Typically, this reduces fathers’ role strain. However, we argue that unemployment may threaten both work and parent identities for fathers and therefore undermine well-being for fathers more than mothers. We find support for this hypothesis using a large, longitudinal study of unemployed individuals (Study 1) and a nationally representative sample (Study 2). Finally, a follow-up experiment (Study 3) supports our prediction that fathers are more likely than mothers to view paid employment as necessary for good parenting, which predicts their lower well-being during unemployment. This work contributes to research on parenthood, gender roles, and unemployment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Caring Dads? Universal Childcare, Paternity Leave, and Fathers’ Labor Supply (2026)
Zitatform
Huebener, Mathias, Malin Mahlbacher & Sophia Schmitz (2026): Caring Dads? Universal Childcare, Paternity Leave, and Fathers’ Labor Supply. (IZA discussion paper / IZA Network @ LISER 18696), Bonn: IZA Network @ LISER, 62 S.
Abstract
"We study how expansions of publicly subsidized childcare affect the intra-household allocation of labor supply in early childhood, with a particular focus on fathers. Exploiting variation in the roll-out of childcare places for children under three across German counties, we show that increased availability accelerates childcare entry and maternal return to work. Fathers also adjust their labor supply: they take more parental leave and subsequently reduce full-time work, yet without significantly increasing weekday caregiving. These findings imply that childcare policies can reshape labor supply within households, leading to smaller aggregate labor supply effects than suggested by maternal responses alone." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
When are you coming back? Effect of state-subsidized and employer-sponsored childcare on mothers’ return to work (2026)
Zitatform
Kronberg, Anne-Kathrin & Anna Gerlach (2026): When are you coming back? Effect of state-subsidized and employer-sponsored childcare on mothers’ return to work. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 42, H. 4, S. 606-623. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcaf044
Abstract
"After giving birth, higher-educated mothers return to work faster and stay with their pre-birth employer more often than mothers with less education. To facilitate more equitable return patterns, public policy and organizational scholars point to state-subsidized and employer-sponsored childcare as potential solutions. We ask how these two childcare approaches affect mothers’ education-specific return timing and destination (pre-birth employer or new employer). Our paper combines representative German linked employer-employee data (LIAB) with county-level childcare information from 2007 to 2019 to address this question. We demonstrate that better state-subsidized childcare reduces education-specific differences in how quickly mothers return to their pre-birth employer. However, equalizing effects decline at the very bottom of the educational spectrum. The equalizing effect also partially extends to employer-sponsored childcare assistance, especially when state-subsidized care is scarce. Nevertheless, employer assistance cannot fully compensate for a lack of state-subsidized infrastructure or prevent mothers’ turnover to a new company. Thus, state-subsidized childcare plays a central role in understanding mothers’ returns to work. We discuss policy implications and how our findings extend beyond the German context." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Household classification, family diversity and poverty risks in Europe: Addressing a North-Western bias (2026)
Zitatform
Lancker, Wim Van, Alzbeta Bartova, Max Thaning & Rense Nieuwenhuis (2026): Household classification, family diversity and poverty risks in Europe: Addressing a North-Western bias. In: Journal of European Social Policy, S. 1-18. DOI:10.1177/09589287261430496
Abstract
"European statistics and policies commonly rely on household typologies that classify households based on the number of adults and children living together. However, these typologies overlook family relationships and classify any non-standard arrangement into a broad residual category of ‘other’. This approach fails to capture increasing family diversity across Europe and introduces a persistent North-Western bias into data and policymaking. As a result, families that do not fit conventional models may be misclassified or entirely overlooked in poverty assessments and policy targeting. This is problematic since family structures vary substantially across European countries and became more diverse over time. This article introduces the Families in Households Typology (FHT), a classification system that uses relationship identifiers in EU-SILC microdata to reconstruct family structures within households. The FHT reduces the share of individuals placed in the residual ‘other’ category from over 20% to around 5%, particularly improving identification in Southern, Central, and Eastern European countries where multigenerational living arrangements are common. The results also show that nearly half of all single parents in Europe live with another adult and are not captured as single parents under conventional typologies. This has important implications for policy design: many single-parent households may be excluded from targeted support due to misclassification. Reclassifying households using the FHT also reshapes our understanding of living standards. The poverty risk of single parents is often overestimated when the Eurostat household typology is adopted. When single parents co-residing with kin or unrelated adults are correctly identified, their average poverty risk tends to be much lower. These findings highlight the importance of moving away from basic household counts towards relational classifications that more accurately reflect the diversity of family life across Europe, rather than using typologies that reflect the dominant family reality in Northern and Western Europe." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Monetary policy and the added worker effect (2026)
Leahy, John Vincent; Ranošová, Tereza;Zitatform
Leahy, John Vincent & Tereza Ranošová (2026): Monetary policy and the added worker effect. (Discussion paper / Deutsche Bundesbank 02/2026), Frankfurt am Main, 41 S. DOI:10.71734/DP-2026-2
Abstract
"We exploit cross-sectional variation in the response of US states to a monetary policy shock to study how the impact of monetary policy varies with the share of married women who work. We find that the economy's response is more muted the lower the share of married women employed before the shock. We argue that a plausible explanation is a shielded demand response by households, insured by the "added worker effect". When women are only weakly attached to the labor market, they can flexibly enter and exit to supplement household income in times of need, providing a powerful insurance mechanism against aggregate shocks. We provide three additional pieces of evidence. First, monetary policy shocks have a stronger effect in states where married women are more firmly attached to the labor market (making fewer transitions in and out). Second, following an increase in the federal funds rate, married women themselves are comparatively more likely to be employed (and to enter employment) in states where the share of married women working pre- shock is low. Third, in contrast to employment, wages of married women fall more in states where married women have worked less, consistent with a differential labor supply response to the shock." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Telecommuting and division of domestic work: the role of gender role attitudes in Germany (2026)
Zitatform
Leshchenko, Olga & Heejung Chung (2026): Telecommuting and division of domestic work: the role of gender role attitudes in Germany. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 42, H. 4, S. 545-560. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcaf046
Abstract
"Telecommuting is often portrayed as a work-life balance measure. Though, in theory, telecommuting can provide workers with more time for leisure and family, due to the boundary blurring between work and life spheres, it can exacerbate gender inequalities by pushing women to carry out more domestic work while increasing men’s time in paid work. Empirically, the evidenceis mixed. We extend the debate by exploring how individuals’ gender role attitudes (GRA) moderate the relationship between telecommuting and the division of domestic work. We apply hybrid models to the German Family Panel data. The data covers the timespan from 2008 to 2021, which includes the unique COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that GRA matter. When getting access to telecommuting, egalitarian men increased their contribution to childcare, while traditional men did not. Similarly, telecommuting traditional women increased their childcare contribution. The pattern remained the same during the expansion of telecommuting due to the COVID-19 pandemic: only telecommuting traditional women and telecommuting egalitarian men increased their childcare contribution. The results of this study suggest that telecommuting has the potential to serve as a ‘great equaliser’. However, achieving this requires actively promoting more egalitarian views on gender roles." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The Economics of Gender-Specific Minimum Wage Legislation (2026)
Zitatform
Marchingiglio, Riccardo & Michael Poyker (2026): The Economics of Gender-Specific Minimum Wage Legislation. In: Journal of labor economics, Jg. 44, H. 3, S. 1009-1063. DOI:10.1086/733493
Abstract
"Using full count U.S. census data, we study the impact of early 20th-century state-industry-specific minimum wage laws that primarily targeted female employees. Our triple-difference estimates suggest a null impact of the minimum wage laws, potentially reflecting disemployment effects and the positive selection bias of the workers remaining in the labor force. When comparing county-industry Trends between counties straddling state borders, female employment is lower by around 3.1% in affected county-industry cells. We further investigate the implications for own-wage elasticity of labor demand as afunction of cross-industry concentration, the channels of substitution between men and women, and heterogeneity by marital status." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Sorgen und Belastungen während und nach der Corona-Krise: (Solo-)Selbstständige (und) Frauen besonders stark betroffen (2026)
Zitatform
Schulze Buschoff, Karin, Eileen Peters & Bjarne Müller (2026): Sorgen und Belastungen während und nach der Corona-Krise: (Solo-)Selbstständige (und) Frauen besonders stark betroffen. (WSI Policy Brief / Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut 95), Düsseldorf, 26 S.
Abstract
"Die im Frühjahr 2020 in Deutschland beginnende Corona-Pandemie hatte weitreichende Auswirkungen auf die gesamte Gesellschaft, die auch nach dem Ende der Pandemie noch spürbar waren (Kohlrausch et al. 2025). Unsere Analysen gehen davon aus, dass Erwerbstätige im Zeitverlauf unter schiedlich stark von diesen Folgen betroffen waren. Während sich die bisherige Forschung häufig auf den Zeitraum der Pandemie beschränkt, gehen wir einen Schritt weiter und analysieren, wie sich Sorgen und Belastungen auch nach ihrem Ende entwickelt haben. Darüber hinaus erweitern unsere Analysen den bisherigen Forschungsstand, indem wir unterschiedliche Formen der Selbstständigkeit berücksichtigen. Bislang war zudem kaum bekannt, wie sich Sorgen und Belastungen von Frauen und Männern entlang verschiedener Formen der Erwerbstätigkeit unterscheiden. Unsere Auswertungen schließen auch diese Forschungslücke." (Textauszug, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Gendered reporting of housework across relative spousal income (2026)
Zitatform
Syrda, Joanna (2026): Gendered reporting of housework across relative spousal income. In: Social science research, Jg. 134. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103303
Abstract
"The measured work that wives and husbands perform at home and in the labour market remains strongly gendered. Competing theoretical perspectives offer divergent predictions about how relative spousal income shapes the division of housework: exchange and bargaining models predict that the higher earner performs less domestic labour, whereas sociological accounts emphasize persistent traditional gender norms. Empirical findings mirror this divide, and existing research typically overlooks gendered reporting bias in household survey data.Using data from the 1999–2023 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), this study examines whether the relationship between relative spousal income and housework depends on the gender of the household respondent. The PSID's rotating respondent design - where either spouse reports for the household - combined with within-household fixed effects and double-demeaned interaction models reveal asymmetries. When wives report, the association between relative income and housework aligns with exchange and bargaining theory. When husbands report, the same households exhibit a curvilinear pattern consistent with gender deviance neutralization. Respondent gender therefore fundamentally shapes empirical conclusions about the income-housework relationship, indicating that gender norms structure not only domestic labour but also its survey representation.Approximately one quarter of couples switch respondents over time, and these effects are identified from this subset. That strong asymmetries emerge even among more egalitarian households underscores the importance of gendered reporting. Methodologically, the findings show that conventional fixed effects models attenuate respondent-contingent nonlinearities, whereas double-demeaned estimators that control for both unit and time effects recover sharper and theoretically coherent patterns." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 The Author. Published by Elsevier Inc.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
When Mothers Out-Earn Fathers: Effects on Fathers' Decisions to Take Paternity and Parental Leave (2025)
Zitatform
Biasi, Paola, Maria De Paola & Francesca Gioia (2025): When Mothers Out-Earn Fathers: Effects on Fathers' Decisions to Take Paternity and Parental Leave. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 17601), Bonn, 36 S.
Abstract
"This study investigates the influence of the male breadwinner norm on fathers' decisions regarding childcare responsibilities. We study the complex interplay between economic factors and gender norms in shaping the division of household labor within families by analyzing the impact a breadwinning mother has on fathers' choices regarding paternity leave (fully subsidized) and parental leave (partially or not subsidized). We exploit administrative data, provided by the Italian National Security Institute (INPS), including demographic and working characteristics of both parents together with information on the use of paternity and parental leave by fathers in the 2013-2023 period. We find that, in line with the "doing gender" hypothesis, when the leave is fully subsidized, as for paternity leave, fathers are less likely to engage in childcare when their wives earn more than they do. In contrast, this dynamic does not apply in cases of parental leave, where the economic costs of aligning with the gender norm are substantial. The effects we find are robust when replacing the actual probability of there being an out-earning mother with the potential probability and are amplified by the salience of the gender identity norm." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wage Risk and Government and Spousal Insurance (2025)
Zitatform
De Nardi, Mariacristina, Giulio Fella & Gonzalo Paz-Pardo (2025): Wage Risk and Government and Spousal Insurance. In: The Review of Economic Studies, Jg. 92, H. 2, S. 954-980. DOI:10.1093/restud/rdae042
Abstract
"The extent to which households can self-insure depends on family structure and wage risk. We calibrate a model of couples and singles’ savings and labour supply under two types of wage processes. The first wage process is the canonical—age-independent, linear—one that is typically used to evaluate government insurance provision. The second wage process is a flexible one. We use our model to evaluate the optimal mix of the two most common types of means-tested benefits—IW versus income floor. The canonical wage process underestimates wage persistence for women and thus implies that IW benefits should account for most benefit income. In contrast, the richer wage process that matches the wage data well, implies that the income floor should be the main benefit source, similarly to the system in place in the U.K. This stresses that allowing for rich wage dynamics is important to properly evaluate policy." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))