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
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
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
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))
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Literaturhinweis
The Economic Costs of Men's Long Work Hours for Women: Evidence on the Gender Wage Earnings Gap from Australia and Germany (2025)
Zitatform
Doan, Tinh, Liana Leach & Lyndall Strazdins (2025): The Economic Costs of Men's Long Work Hours for Women: Evidence on the Gender Wage Earnings Gap from Australia and Germany. In: Social indicators research, Jg. 179, H. 2, S. 1073-1100. DOI:10.1007/s11205-025-03647-1
Abstract
"Women’s earnings inequality persists, despite policy efforts to reduce discrimination and gender bias. Gender gaps in earnings, however, are a function of hours worked as well as wage rates, and reflect gendered short and long work hour patterns. Within households, how partners exchange time is a crucial driver of hours worked yet this is rarely incorporated into analysis of gender earning gaps. Using a two-stage instrumental variable Oaxaca- Blinder decomposition we model earnings gaps as a function of own and partner hours on and off the job. This enables us to estimate what the gender gap in hours and earnings would look like without a gendered time ‘subsidy’ or ‘borrowing’ in the home. We studied dual-earner households in two countries, Australia and Germany, finding a weekly earnings gap of AUD$536 and €400. This was accompanied by a weekly work hour gap of 12 h in Australia and 13 in Germany. When we accounted for the influence of partner’s hours (paid or unpaid), work hour gaps reduce to 5.1 h in Australian households (58% reduction), and to 6.9 h in German (47% reduction). In effect, women would work 3 to 4 h more each week, and men’s long hours would reduce, narrowing the gender earnings gaps by 43% in Australia and 25% in Germany, if time ‘subsidies’ in the home were eliminated. Our analysis reveals the economic cost to women long work hour cultures impose." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Rise in Home Working and Spousal Labor Supply (2025)
Feuillade, Mylène; Maurin, Eric; Goux, Dominique;Zitatform
Feuillade, Mylène, Dominique Goux & Eric Maurin (2025): Rise in Home Working and Spousal Labor Supply. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 17997), Bonn, 55 S.
Abstract
"This article explores how an employee's choice to work from home (WFH) influences his or her spouse's outcomes. Drawing on the specific features of the French institutions, we show that a spouse's switch to WFH leads to a sharp increase in the probability that his or her partner will also switch to WFH, as well as in the number of hours worked by the partner. These cross-effects are particularly strong on the better-paid partner within the couple (whether the man or the woman) who appears to condition his or her decision to work from home on that of his or her (less-paid) partner. The effects of WFH on the volume of hours worked are greatly underestimated when spillovers within couples are neglected. On the other hand, we detect no significant effect on partners' commuting distance, nor on the type of urban unit they choose to live in." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Do Mothers’ Occupation-Specific Skills Impact Children’s Developmental Processes? (2025)
Zitatform
García-Sierra, Alicia (2025): Do Mothers’ Occupation-Specific Skills Impact Children’s Developmental Processes? In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 100. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2025.101102
Abstract
"This study examines whether mothers’ occupation-specific skills influence children’s development. I argue that while education is a valuable proxy for parental skills, it fails to capture an important dimension of human capital: the skills parents acquire through their occupational experiences. Parents enhance their human capital through on-the-job learning, with occupation-specific expertise becoming integral to their skill sets. Combining longitudinal family data (NLSY79-CYA) and the O*NET dataset, I employ two-way fixed effects, inverse probability weighting, and asymmetric fixed effects models. I exploit changes in the required skill levels of mothers’ occupations following job switches. Results indicate that when mothers transition to roles requiring higher levels of mathematical skills, their children’s mathematical abilities improve. Similar trends are observed for literacy skills, although the effects are less consistently robust. Additionally, longer maternal job tenure amplifies these effects, which are primarily driven by increases in skill requirements rather than decreases. Furthermore, children in high-SES families benefit more from increases in their mothers’ occupational skill requirements than children in low-SES families." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Can Work from Home Help Balance the Parental Division of Labor? (2025)
Zitatform
Gaudecker, Hans-Martin von, Radost Holler, Lenard Simon & Christian Zimpelmann (2025): Can Work from Home Help Balance the Parental Division of Labor? (CRC TR 224 discussion paper series / EPoS Collaborative Research Center Transregio 224 661), Bonn, 22 S.
Abstract
"This study examines how the Covid-19 pandemic-induced shift towards remote work has influenced parents' allocation of non-market and market work. Utilizing a probability- based panel survey and comprehensive administrative records from the Netherlands covering the years 2014 to 2021, we demonstrate that the potential for remote work has been significantly realized only after the onset of the pandemic. Simultaneously, following a brief period of school and daycare closures, the total time parents spent on childcare returned to pre-pandemic levels. Notably, while the potential for remote work was associated with reduced childcare provision before the pandemic, this relationship reversed post-pandemic onset. We interpret this shift as an indication of increased flexibility for parents, with fathers experiencing greater gains than mothers. Consequently, the division of childcare duties has become more equitable, and mothers have increased their working hours. Our findings suggest that broader acceptance of remote work by employers could foster greater gender convergence in the intra-household division of labor." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Does the Added Worker Effect Matter? (2025)
Zitatform
Guner, Nezih, Yuliya A. Kulikova & Arnau Valladares-Esteban (2025): Does the Added Worker Effect Matter? In: Review of Economic Dynamics, Jg. 56. DOI:10.1016/j.red.2025.101271
Abstract
"In the US, the likelihood of a married woman entering the labor force in a given month increases by 60% if her husband loses his job, known as the added worker effect. However, only 1.5% to 3.5% of married women entering the labor force in a given month can be added workers. This raises the question of whether the added worker effect can significantly impact aggregate labor market outcomes. Building on Shimer (2012), we introduce a new methodology to evaluate how joint transitions of married couples across labor market states affect aggregate participation, employment, and unemployment rates. Our results show that the added worker effect significantly impacts aggregate outcomes, increasing married women's participation and employment by 0.72 and 0.65 percentage points each month. Additionally, the added worker effect reduces the cyclicality of married women's participation and unemployment, lowering the correlation between GDP's cyclical components and participation by 4.5 percentage points and unemployment by 8 percentage points." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
What about the men, though? Relative wage opportunities and the persistence of employment gaps in couples (2025)
Hammer, Luisa;Zitatform
Hammer, Luisa (2025): What about the men, though? Relative wage opportunities and the persistence of employment gaps in couples. (IAB-Discussion Paper 01/2025), Nürnberg, 63 S. DOI:10.48720/IAB.DP.2501
Abstract
"Die geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede bei der Beschäftigung haben sich verringert, sind aber nach wie vor beträchtlich, insbesondere innerhalb von Paaren. Um abzuschätzen, wie sich verbesserte Lohnmöglichkeiten für Frauen auf die Beschäftigungsentscheidungen der Partner auswirken, nutze ich nachfragegesteuerte Lohnveränderungen bei Arbeitsaufgaben und deutsche Verwaltungsdaten. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Frauen positiv, wenn auch mit abnehmender Tendenz, auf relative Lohnverbesserungen reagieren, während männliche Partner als Reaktion darauf ebenfalls ihr Arbeitsangebot erhöhen. Infolgedessen verringert sich die Arbeitszeitlücke innerhalb von Paaren, schließt sich aber nicht und vergrößert sich in bestimmten Gruppen sogar. Mögliche Erklärungen für diese Muster, die auf Beckers Haushaltsmodell aufbauen, sind komparative Vorteile für Frauen sowie relative Einkommenspräferenzen und Geschlechtsidentitätsnormen für Männer." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
Beteiligte aus dem IAB
Hammer, Luisa; -
Literaturhinweis
Winning the Bread and Baking it Too: Gendered Frictions in the Allocation of Home Production (2025)
Zitatform
Hancock, Kyle, Jeanne Lafortune & Corinne Low (2025): Winning the Bread and Baking it Too: Gendered Frictions in the Allocation of Home Production. (NBER working paper / National Bureau of Economic Research 33393), Cambridge, Mass, 66 S.
Abstract
"We document that female breadwinners do more home production than their male partners, driven by “housework” like cooking and cleaning. By comparing to same sex couples, we highlight that specialization within heterosexual households does not appear to be “gender neutral ” even after accounting for average earnings differences. One possible explanation would be a large comparative advantage in housework by women, a supposition commonly used to match aggregate labor supply statistics. Using a model, we show that while comparative advantage can match some stylized facts about how couples divide housework, it fails to match others, particularly that men's housework time is inelastic to relative household wages. Matching these facts requires some gendered wedge between the opportunity cost of housework time and its assignment within the household. We then turn to the implications for household formation. Gendered rigidities in the allocation of household tasks result in lower surplus for couples where women out-earn men than vice versa, providing a micro-founded reason for substantial literature showing that lower relative earning by men decreases marriage rates. We show that our mechanism —allocation of housework, rather than norms about earnings—plays a role by relating marriage rates to the ratio of home production time in US immigrants' countries of origin." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Couples' division of paid work and rising income inequality: A study of 21 OECD countries (2025)
Zitatform
Herzberg-Druker, Efrat (2025): Couples' division of paid work and rising income inequality: A study of 21 OECD countries. In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 99. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2025.101084
Abstract
"Numerous scholars have explored the association between women's changing employment patterns and the changing income inequality in recent decades. While most studies indicate that increased women's employment reduces household inequality, a few suggest the opposite effect. This research investigated whether shifts in the division of paid work (i.e., changes in the working hours) among heterosexual couples, as compared to changes in women's work alone, contribute to changes in income inequality. It also examined whether the selection of couples into the different types of division of paid work based on their level of education is a mechanism underlying the growing inequality. Based on counterfactual analyses of data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), encompassing 21 OECD countries, the findings demonstrate shifts in couples' division of paid work, particularly the increase in fulltime dual-earner households, are associated with rising income inequality in most countries studied. However, changes in educational attainment were not found to be the mechanism underlying the association between changes in couples' division of paid work and changes in income inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Parental self-evaluations by gender and social class: Shared parenting ideals, male breadwinner norms, and mothers’ higher evaluation standards (2025)
Zitatform
Ishizuka, Patrick (2025): Parental self-evaluations by gender and social class: Shared parenting ideals, male breadwinner norms, and mothers’ higher evaluation standards. In: Social science research, Jg. 128. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2025.103156
Abstract
"Cultural norms that define “good” parenting are central to sociological explanations of gender inequality among parents and social class differences in parental investments in children. Yet, little is known about how mothers and fathers of different social classes evaluate their success as parents and what predicts those assessments. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study examines how caregiving and breadwinning are tied to parents’ self-evaluations by genderand social class. Results show that intensive parenting activities and full-time employment strongly predict more positive self-evaluations for mothers and fathers, reflecting gender symmetry in core cultural expectations of parents. However, earnings, homeownership, and overwork positively predict self-evaluations for fathers only, and mothers evaluate themselves more negatively than fathers at the same level of involvement and financial provision. Finally, intensive parenting activities similarly positively predict self-evaluations for more- and less-educated parents. Findings highlight challenges to meeting cultural expectations of modern parenthood, particularly for mothers and economically disadvantaged parents." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 The Author. Published byElsevier Inc.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Who picks up the slack? Understanding spousal responses to unemployment spells (2025)
Zitatform
Kawano, Laura, Sara LaLumia, Shanthi Ramnath & Michael Stevens (2025): Who picks up the slack? Understanding spousal responses to unemployment spells. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 96. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102732
Abstract
"We use a large panel of married households to update estimated added worker effects. In response to a primary earner’s job loss, secondary earners are 1.1 to 2.4 percentage points more likely to work and compensate for 3.6 to 5.1 percent of the displaced worker’s lost earnings. When a secondary earner is displaced, spousal employment is unchanged but there is a substantial earnings reduction. These small compensatory responses are explained by an increased probability that the nondisplaced spouse exits employment, either through correlated unemployment shocks or retirement. Conditional on relative-earner status, sex-based differences in added worker effects are small." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Labor supply response of women across the divorce process and the moderating role of children (2025)
Zitatform
Klingler, Matthias (2025): Labor supply response of women across the divorce process and the moderating role of children. In: Advances in life course research, Jg. 65. DOI:10.1016/j.alcr.2025.100694
Abstract
"Employment is widely considered a key coping strategy for women against the economic burden of divorce. However, few studies have explored how women adjust their labor supply across the divorce process, particularly considering the moderating role of children’s presence and age. This study uses longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from 1984 to 2021 in an event-study approach with fixed effects regressions and an extended control group design. This design allows group-specific age trends to be controlled for in moderation analyses. The findings show that women increase their labor supply in anticipation of divorce, intensify it during the transition period, and subsequently stabilize at a higher level. Whereas childless women show minimal changes in their labor supply, all groups of mothers experience an increase, which is sustained after divorce. Mothers of children aged six years and above tend to increase their labor supply primarily by working more hours, whereas there is some indication that mothers of children aged five years and below mainly enter or re-enter employment. Overall, the results suggest that increased economic activity is an important coping strategy for women during the divorce process, with mothers showing the most pronounced increase in labor supply." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Telecommuting and division of domestic work: the role of gender role attitudes in Germany (2025)
Zitatform
Leshchenko, Olga & Heejung Chung (2025): Telecommuting and division of domestic work: the role of gender role attitudes in Germany. In: European Sociological Review, S. 1-16. 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
Flexible working time arrangements and work-life conflict: The role of gender and housework (2025)
Zitatform
Leshchenko, Olga & Susanne Strauss (2025): Flexible working time arrangements and work-life conflict: The role of gender and housework. In: Journal of Family Research, Jg. 37, S. 205-226. DOI:10.20377/jfr-1186
Abstract
"Fragestellung:In diesem Artikel untersuchen wir, wie die Beziehung zwischen flexiblen Arbeitszeitarrangements und dem Konflikt zwischen Erwerbsarbeit und Privatleben (work–to–life conflict) sowie zwischen Privatleben und Erwerbsarbeit (life–to–work conflict) durch eine (un)gleiche Aufteilung der Hausarbeit bei heterosexuellen Paaren moderiert wird.Hintergrund:Flexible Arbeitszeitarrangements können Arbeitnehmer/innen mehr Autonomie bei der Balance zwischen Erwerbsarbeit und Privatleben ermöglichen. Bisherige Studien haben jedoch gezeigt, dass diese Flexibilität auf geschlechtsspezifische Weise genutzt wird: Während Frauen mit flexiblen Arbeitszeitarrangements mehr Zeit für die Hausarbeit aufwenden, erhöhen Männer ihre Erwerbsarbeitszeit. Unser Artikel baut auf diesen Befunden auf und untersucht, wie die Heterogenität in der Aufteilung der Hausarbeit in Paarhaushalten die Beziehung zwischen flexiblen Arbeitszeitregelungen und Konflikten zwischen Erwerbsarbeit und Privatleben moderiert.Methode:Die Analysen basieren auf dem Deutschen Familienpanel (pairfam), Welle 12 (2019-2020) und umfassen 2.032 erwerbstätige Personen in einer Partnerschaft (1.162 Frauen und 870 Männer). Die multivariaten Analysen basieren auf linearen Regressionsmodellen.Ergebnisse:Vom Unternehmen festgelegte und autonome Arbeitszeitmodelle sind mit größeren Konflikten zwischen Erwerbsarbeit und Privatleben (work–to–life conflict) verbunden, insbesondere bei Männern, während Frauen mit vollständiger Kontrolle über ihre Arbeitszeiten seltener über Konflikte berichten. Das Ausmaß des Konflikts zwischen Privatleben und Erwerbsarbeit (life–to–work conflict) ist bei den verschiedenen Arbeitszeitmodellen ähnlich, mit Ausnahme von Frauen mit Gleitzeit, die öfter über einen Konflikt berichteten. Die Einbindung in die Hausarbeit spielt insofern eine Rolle als Frauen, die den Großteil der Hausarbeit übernehmen, bei flexiblen Arbeitszeitarrangements mit größeren Konflikten zwischen Privatleben und Erwerbsarbeit (life–to–work conflict) konfrontiert sind. Männer mit unternehmensdefinierten Arbeitszeitarrangements berichten hingegen häufiger über Konflikte in beide Richtungen (also work–to–life conflict sowie life–to–work conflict), wenn sie sich die Hausarbeit gleichberechtigt mit ihrer Partnerin teilen.Schlussfolgerung:Der Zugang zu flexiblen Arbeitszeitarrangements allein verringert die Konflikte zwischen Erwerbsarbeit und Privatleben nicht unbedingt, da die Auswirkungen sowohl vom Geschlecht als auch von der Hausarbeitsverteilung im Paarhaushalt abhängen" (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Does a Civil Service Job Matter? The Influence of Civil Service Employment on the Transition to the First and the Second Child for Women and Men in Germany (2025)
Zitatform
Löwe, Paul Severin (2025): Does a Civil Service Job Matter? The Influence of Civil Service Employment on the Transition to the First and the Second Child for Women and Men in Germany. In: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Jg. 77, H. 3, S. 321-354. DOI:10.1007/s11577-025-01017-w
Abstract
"In dieser Studie wird der Einfluss einer Beschäftigung im öffentlichen Dienst im Vergleich zur Privatwirtschaft auf die Übergangsrate zum ersten und zweiten Kind untersucht. Der öffentliche Dienst wird häufig mit einem familienfreundlichen Arbeitsumfeld in Verbindung gebracht, das die Möglichkeit bietet, einen Beitrag zur Lösung des gesellschaftlichen Problems der niedrigen Geburtenrate zu leisten. In anderen europäischen Ländern wurde ein solcher Einfluss nachgewiesen, aber in Deutschland fehlte bisher eine Analyse auf individueller Ebene. Unter Verwendung von Daten aus dem Deutschen Familienpanel (Pairfam) nutzen wir diskrete Ereignisverlaufsmodelle in einer Piecewise-constant-Spezifikation, um den Übergang zum ersten Kind in Abhängigkeit von der Beschäftigung im öffentlichen Dienst oder in der Privatwirtschaft zu berechnen. Wir finden einen inhaltlich bedeutenden und statistisch signifikanten positiven Einfluss der Beschäftigung im öffentlichen Dienst auf den Übergang zum zweiten Kind für Frauen. Für Männer wird ein inhaltlich bedeutender, aber statistisch nicht signifikanter negativer Einfluss auf den Übergang zum zweiten Kind festgestellt. Weder für Frauen noch für Männer lässt sich ein inhaltlich bedeutender oder statistisch signifikanter Einfluss auf den Übergang zum ersten Kind feststellen. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Beschäftigung im öffentlichen Dienst einen Ansatzpunkt zur Beeinflussung der Fertilität, insbesondere nach der Geburt, bietet." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
The gender gap in working from home after the onset of COVID-19 (2025)
Zitatform
Marcén, Miriam & Marina Morales (2025): The gender gap in working from home after the onset of COVID-19. In: Review of Economics of the Household, Jg. 23, H. 4, S. 1459-1486. DOI:10.1007/s11150-025-09809-x
Abstract
"This study examines changes in the gender gap in the take up and intensity of working from home following the unexpected onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, we find that working from home became more prevalent among women than men, thus widening the gender gap. Job characteristics played a crucial role in this trend, particularly among private sector workers. The gender gap widened most significantly among young, highly educated individuals and those living with dependents. Moreover, our results suggest that social distancing measures increased working from home time for men but did not have the same effect on women. We also extend our analysis to other work-related outcomes, finding that women experienced less favorable outcomes, particularly an increase in unpredictable or non-standard schedules. Overall, this shift in the gender gap is statistically significant over time and remains robust." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The Role of Working-From-Home for Maternal Employment Re-Entry after Childbirth (2025)
Zitatform
Matysiak, Anna, Beata Osiewalska & Anna Kurowska (2025): The Role of Working-From-Home for Maternal Employment Re-Entry after Childbirth. (Working papers / Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw 2025-18), Warsaw, 43 S.
Abstract
"This study investigates how work-from-home (WFH) —by mothers and their male partners—shapes maternal employment re-entry after childbirth. Drawing on Conservation of Resources and Boundary Management theories, the study distinguishes between WFH access and regular use. It hypothesizes that regular WFH use by mothers and their partners supports earlier and full-time maternal return to paid work, particularly among second-time mothers. The UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009–2019) is used to estimate discrete-time hazard models of return to paid work after first and second births, distinguishing between full-time and part-time re-entry. Among first-time mothers, both WFH access and regular use are associated with a greater likelihood of full-time re-entry, though not with overall return. Among second-time mothers, regular pre-birth WFH use significantly increases the likelihood of returning to paid work—regardless of hours—whereas access alone does not. No significant associations are found between male partners' WFH and maternal employment outcomes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The flexibility paradox and spatial-temporal dimensions of COVID-19 remote work adaptation among dual-earner mothers and fathers (2025)
Zitatform
Parry, Ashley (2025): The flexibility paradox and spatial-temporal dimensions of COVID-19 remote work adaptation among dual-earner mothers and fathers. In: Gender, work & organization, Jg. 32, H. 1, S. 15-36. DOI:10.1111/gwao.13130
Abstract
"There is an increased blurring of work and home life in contemporary society due to access to technology and the mass expansion of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Flexible working arrangements like remote work can lead to men self-exploiting themselves in the workplace and women self-exploiting themselves in the domestic sphere in the context of a work-centric society that is reliant upon passion at work and traditional gender norms. This study extends Chung's ideas on gendered patterns in the flexibility paradox by examining spatial-temporal dimensions of COVID-19 remote work adaptation among an extreme sample: dual-earner parents with young children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on Zoom with 20 mothers and 17 fathers working from home in the U.S. with children ages 5 and under between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2021. Findings indicate that fathers' work is prioritized in spatio-temporal terms whereas mothers' work is fragmented and dispersed. Gendered patterns in the flexibility paradox and labor shouldered by mothers as primary caregivers are considered as potential theoretical explanations for the privileging of fathers' workspace and work time." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The end of polarization? Evolutions of the distribution of employment across couples in Europe over the past 40 years (2025)
Zitatform
Paugam, Guillaume (2025): The end of polarization? Evolutions of the distribution of employment across couples in Europe over the past 40 years. In: Socio-economic review, Jg. 23, H. 2, S. 813-843. DOI:10.1093/ser/mwae031
Abstract
"This article revisits the claim that heterosexual couple employment participation has increasingly been polarizing in Europe between dual-jobless and dual-earning. Studying twenty-seven European countries over 4 decades, it finds that polarization has increased, but at a clearly decreasing rate. Polarization rose in the 1980s/1990s, as women joining employment then were disproportionately likely to have a male partner also employed. It has slowed-down since, as rising female employment eventually started materializing into substantial rates of female-single-earning. The article explores different potential factors behind this shift. At the macro-level, the sectoral transformation of economies and the 2008 crisis have had lasting impacts on couple employment. At the couple level, partnered women have become more educated than partnered men, fuelling the rise in female-single-earning. Amongst disadvantaged couples, dual-worklessness has decreased, but is being replaced by the clustering of non-standard employment in couples." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The Elephant in the Family Policy Room: How Care Culture Influences the Effects of Public Childcare on Women’s Labor Market Participation in Europe (2025)
Zitatform
Pavolini, Emmanuele, Elisa Brini & Stefani Scherer (2025): The Elephant in the Family Policy Room: How Care Culture Influences the Effects of Public Childcare on Women’s Labor Market Participation in Europe. In: Social indicators research, Jg. 180, H. 3, S. 1619-1637. DOI:10.1007/s11205-025-03719-2
Abstract
"This paper examines how cultural contexts influence the extent to which policies aimed at supporting women’s employment and gender equality achieve their objectives. More specifically, it addresses how the availability of formal public childcare services for children under the age of three and their expansion support women’s labour market participation in different cultural contexts. Few studies have examined cultural and structural factors together. The study integrates individual-level data from the European Social Survey on women’s employment and their attitudes with time-varying regional-level information from statistical offices on public early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision and information on gender care culture obtained from different waves of the European Values Study. We find that increasing the availability of ECEC is particularly effective in promoting women’s full-time employment and women’s labour market participation in contexts where traditional cultural values regarding gendered care prevail. The results appear to be independent of individual attitudes. The paper highlights the interaction between structural and cultural factors in shaping employment behaviour and suggests that the outcomes of social policy interventions, such as the expansion of ECEC, are strongly influenced by cultural contexts, although not necessarily in the expected direction." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Gender norms and child penalties (2025)
Zitatform
Rafols, Radine (2025): Gender norms and child penalties. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 97. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102770
Abstract
"I study how early gender beliefs shape the labor market consequences of parenthood. Drawing on panel data from the NLSY79, I document sharp and persistent gender gaps in wages, hours, employment, and earnings following childbirth. Mothers with egalitarian norms exhibit stronger labor force attachment and suffer smaller penalties across all outcomes. To understand mechanisms, I demonstrate that gender norms affect decisions that typically correlate with labor market success. A causal mediation analysis reveals that the indirect effect of norm beliefs on fertility explain a sizable share of the gap between modern and traditional mothers, while education, marriage timing, and occupational sorting play more limited roles." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
How has the partner influenced the spouse’s employment situation in Spain before and during Covid-19? (2025)
Zitatform
Rodríguez Hernández, José Enrique (2025): How has the partner influenced the spouse’s employment situation in Spain before and during Covid-19? In: Journal for labour market research, Jg. 59. DOI:10.1186/s12651-025-00417-x
Abstract
"This paper addresses issues not previously analyzed by studying the influence that the partner had on the employment situation of the spouse in Spain in the year prior to the health crisis and in the first two years of the pandemic. The results suggest that the recent Covid-19 crisis does not seem to have significantly aggravated the traditional division between paid and domestic work. The results further show significant gender differences and underscore how female employment in Spain has been strongly conditioned by the employment situation of the partner and their relative level of education." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
A Room of One's Own. Work from Home and the Gendered Allocation of Time (2025)
Zitatform
Senik, Claudia & Elena Stancanelli (2025): A Room of One's Own. Work from Home and the Gendered Allocation of Time. (Paris-Jourdan Science Economiques. Working paper 2025-13), Paris, 30 S.
Abstract
"The traditional specialization of men in paid work and women in housework is rooted in the spatial separation of these activities. We examine the possible consequences of the recent expansion of Work from Home (WfH) for the gendered allocation of time. We focus on the time devoted to housework by men and women who work from home versus at the workplace, before and after the Covid pandemic. Using data on several thousand workers drawn from the American Time Use Survey, we find that the gender gap in unpaid work has declined by about 27 minutes per day, i.e. by about 40% for remote workers. Among those, women now spend more time on paid work and less on unpaid work, whereas men do more household chores." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Family Income Dynamics 1970-2018: Putting the Pieces Together (2025)
Zitatform
Shiu, Ji-Liang, Sisi Zhang & Peter Gottschalk (2025): Family Income Dynamics 1970-2018: Putting the Pieces Together. In: Journal of labor economics, Jg. 43, H. S1, S. S123-S151. DOI:10.1086/732769
Abstract
"This paper examines the driving forces of family income dynamics by developing a unified framework to estimate permanent and transitory variation in head earnings, spouse earnings, and transfer income, as well as permanent and transitory correlations between these income sources. A complete decomposition using the PSID 1970 – 2018 shows that transitory variation in head earnings alone accounts for more than half of the total family income inequality. Insurance against transitory shocks to head earnings comes primarily from transfer income rather than spouse earnings. Both permanent and transitory variations in spouse earnings have an equalizing effect on family income inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
What (wo)men want? Evidence from a factorial survey on preferred work hours in couples after childbirth (2024)
Zitatform
Begall, Katia (2024): What (wo)men want? Evidence from a factorial survey on preferred work hours in couples after childbirth. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 40, H. 2, S. 342-356. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcad054
Abstract
"The division of labour remains persistently gendered, in particular among couples with children. Previous research shows that women’s lower economic resources are an important factor driving these inequalities, but because gender and (relative) earnings are highly correlated in male–female couples, their relative importance is difficult to disentangle with observational data. Using a factorial survey conducted among approximately 700 employed men and women of childbearing age in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, the contribution of relative earnings and gender in explaining work-care divisions in couples with children is disentangled. The results show that men and women do not differ in their preferences for their own work hours after childbirth, but both prefer the father to work more hours than the mother. Moreover, the combination of own and partners’ preferred hours shows that men and women in all three countries prefer a modified male-breadwinner model after childbirth in scenarios where the male partner earns more or partners have equal earnings. Preferences for egalitarian divisions of labour appear to be slightly stronger in men compared to women and respondents with more egalitarian views on care tasks show less gender-specialization." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Beliefs on Children's Human Capital Formation and Mothers at Work (2024)
Zitatform
Boinet, Césarine, Jonathan Norris, Agnese Romiti, Zhan Shi & Paul Telemo (2024): Beliefs on Children's Human Capital Formation and Mothers at Work. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 17574), Bonn, 91 S.
Abstract
"Mothers may face pressure to sort out of the labor market due to perceptions that women have an absolute advantage in child-rearing, even when their earnings potential matches that of men. Guided by a simple model, we use a survey experiment where we equalize earnings potential across gender and show that women are perceived to hold an absolute advantage in childrearing. We then experimentally test mechanisms underlying these beliefs, finding that mothers are expected to spend more time on skill investments with their children than fathers who have equivalent time available. Finally, we find that when mothers work full-time, children's actual performance is generally underestimated, but providing factual information about their outcomes, leads to more accurate beliefs and reduced expectations of harm to the child. Our results show that beliefs about an absolute advantage for women in child-rearing are indeed present and highlight the need for targeted interventions to address misinformation about children's outcomes when mothers pursue careers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Beliefs About Maternal Labor Supply (2024)
Zitatform
Boneva, Teodora, Marta Golin, Katja Kaufmann & Christopher Rauh (2024): Beliefs About Maternal Labor Supply. (CRC TR 224 discussion paper series / EPoS Collaborative Research Center Transregio 224 517), Bonn, 86 S.
Abstract
"We provide representative evidence on the perceived returns to maternal labor supply. A mother's decision to work is perceived to have sizable impacts on child skills, family outcomes, and the mother's future labor market outcomes. Beliefs about the impact of additional household income can account for some, but not all, of the perceived positive effects. Perceived returns are predictive of labor supply intentions under different policy scenarios related to childcare availability and quality, two factors that are also perceived as important. An information experiment reveals that providing information about benefits of mothers working causally affects labor supply intentions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Norms about parental employment in Eastern and Western Germany: Results of a factorial survey experiment (2024)
Zitatform
Bozoyan, Christiane & Claudia Schmiedeberg (2024): Norms about parental employment in Eastern and Western Germany: Results of a factorial survey experiment. In: Journal of Family Research, Jg. 36, S. 373-393. DOI:10.20377/jfr-1064
Abstract
"Objective: This study analyzes norms in Germany toward mothers’ and fathers’ work hours, with a focus on differences between Eastern and Western Germany. Background: Maternal labor force participation has increased in many Western countries, and norms toward parents’ division of paid work and care have changed over the past decades. Most literature, however, focuses on maternal labor force participation without considering paternal work hours, based on the dichotomy of a traditional male-breadwinner model versus a model with two adults working full time and comprehensive institutionalized childcare, leaving out other potential arrangements. This focus limits the understanding of differences between Eastern and Western Germany. Method: This study investigates normative judgments regarding both mothers’ and fathers’ employment in a factorial survey experiment implemented in the German Family Panel pairfam in 2019/2020 (N=6,285). Results: The analysis reveals that in Western compared to Eastern Germany shorter working hours are indicated for both fathers and mothers, and judgments regarding working hours vary more and are more affected by job-related variables (relative incomes, career prospects, and family-friendliness of employer). Conclusion: These results imply that in Western Germany, normative judgments of both parents’ work hours are mainly based on the individual level, taking the family’s specific situation into account, whereas in Eastern Germany, judgements are more strongly influenced by a general norm that both parents should work (near to) full-time." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wie viel sollten Mütter und Väter arbeiten?: Idealvorstellungen variieren in und nach der Rushhour des Lebens (2024)
Zitatform
Bujard, Martin & Leonie Kleinschrot (2024): Wie viel sollten Mütter und Väter arbeiten? Idealvorstellungen variieren in und nach der Rushhour des Lebens. In: Bevölkerungsforschung aktuell H. 1, S. 3-9.
Abstract
"Der Artikel betrachtet die Rushhour des Lebens, die durch die Doppelbelastung aus Familien- und Erwerbsarbeit für Mütter und Väter insbesondere in der Lebensphase mit kleinen Kindern entsteht. Basierend auf Daten des familiendemografischen Panels FReDA wird gezeigt, dass die von den Befragten als ideal angesehene Erwerbsarbeitszeit für Mütter mit Kindern im Alter von 4 bis 18 Jahren deutlich höher ist als deren tatsächliche Arbeitszeit. Für Väter dagegen werden geringere Erwerbsarbeitszeiten als die tatsächlich von ihnen geleisteten als ideal angesehen, vor allem mit jungen Kindern. Die Studienergebnisse haben familienpolitische und arbeitsmarktbezogene Relevanz, auch vor dem Hintergrund des Arbeitskräftemangels. Mütter könnten durch Politik und Arbeitgebende eine stärkere Unterstützung bei der schrittweisen Erhöhung ihrer Arbeitszeit mit zunehmendem Alter der Kinder erfahren. Während für Väter in der Rushhour des Lebens die Realisierung einer vollzeitnahen Teilzeit hilfreich wäre." (Textauszug, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Marriage Market and Labor Market Sorting (2024)
Calvo, Paula; Reynoso, Ana; Lindenlaub, Ilse;Zitatform
Calvo, Paula, Ilse Lindenlaub & Ana Reynoso (2024): Marriage Market and Labor Market Sorting. In: The Review of Economic Studies, Jg. 91, H. 6, S. 3316-3361. DOI:10.1093/restud/rdae010
Abstract
"We develop a new equilibrium model in which households’ labor supply choices form the link between sorting on the marriage market and sorting on the labor market. We first show that in theory, the nature of home production—whether partners’ hours are complements or substitutes—shapes equilibrium labor supply as well as marriage and labour market sorting. We then estimate our model using German data to empirically assess the nature of home production, and find that spouses’ home hours are complements. We investigate to what extent complementarity in home hours drives sorting and inequality. We find that home production complementarity strengthens positive marriage sorting and reduces the gender gap in hours and in labor sorting. This puts significant downward pressure on the gender wage gap and on within-household income inequality, but fuels between-household inequality. Our estimated model sheds new light on the sources of inequality in today’s Germany, and—by identifying important shifts in home production technology toward more complementarity—on the evolution of inequality over time." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Dividing Housework between Partners: Individual Preferences and Social Norms (2024)
Zitatform
Cavapozzi, Danilo, Marco Francesconi & Cheti Nicoletti (2024): Dividing Housework between Partners: Individual Preferences and Social Norms. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 17370), Bonn, 49 S.
Abstract
"Using UK longitudinal data on dual-earner couples, this paper estimates a model of intrahousehold housework decisions, which combines a randomized experimental framework eliciting counterfactual choices with gender norms differences across ethnicities and cohorts to identify the impacts of individual preferences and gender identity norms. Equal sharing of tasks yields greater utility for both men and women, with women disliking domestic chores as much as men. Although couples would want to use housework arrangements to compensate for differentials in labor market involvement, women end up performing a substantially larger share of housework. This is not due to specialization, rather social norms play a key role. Exposure to more egalitarian gender attitudes significantly increases the probability of choosing an equal share of housework. Were attitudes evened up to the most progressive levels observed in the sample, women doing more housework than their partners would stop to be the norm already among present-day households, except for households with children." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
Ähnliche Treffer
auch erschienen als: CESifo Working Paper Series, 11413 -
Literaturhinweis
What Works for Working Couples? Work Arrangements, Maternal Labor Supply, and the Division of Home Production (2024)
Ciasullo, Ludovica; Uccioli, Martina;Zitatform
Ciasullo, Ludovica & Martina Uccioli (2024): What Works for Working Couples? Work Arrangements, Maternal Labor Supply, and the Division of Home Production. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 16991), Bonn, 87 S.
Abstract
"We document how a change to work arrangements reduces the child penalty in labor supply for women, and that the consequent more equal distribution of household income does not translate into a more equal division of home production between mothers and fathers. The Australian 2009 Fair Work Act explicitly entitled parents of young children to request a (reasonable) change in work arrangements. Leveraging variation in the timing of the law, timing of childbirth, and the bite of the law across different occupations and industries, we establish three main results. First, the Fair Work Act was used by new mothers to reduce their weekly working hours without renouncing their permanent contract, hence maintaining a regular schedule. Second, with this work arrangement, working mothers’ child penalty declined from a 47 percent drop in hours worked to a 38 percent drop. Third, while this implies a significant shift towards equality in the female- and male-shares of household income, we do not observe any changes in the female (disproportionate) share of home production." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Subsidized Small Jobs and Maternal Labor Market Outcomes in the Long Run (2024)
Zitatform
Collischon, Matthias, Kamila Cygan-Rehm & Regina T. Riphahn (2024): Subsidized Small Jobs and Maternal Labor Market Outcomes in the Long Run. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 17473), Bonn, 60 S.
Abstract
"This paper investigates whether incentives generated by public policies contribute to motherhood penalties. Specifically, we study the consequences of subsidized small jobs, the German Minijobs, which are frequently taken up by first-time mothers upon labor market return. Using a combination of propensity score matching and an event study applied to administrative data, we compare the long-run child penalties of mothers who started out in a Minijob employment versus unsubsidized employment or non-employment after birth. We find persistent differences between the Minijobbers and otherwise employed mothers up to 10 years after the first birth, which suggests adverse unintended consequences of the small jobs subsidy program for maternal earnings and pensions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The emergence of procyclical fertility: The role of breadwinner women (2024)
Zitatform
Coskun, Sena & Husnu C. Dalgic (2024): The emergence of procyclical fertility: The role of breadwinner women. In: Journal of monetary economics, Jg. 142, 2023-10-11. DOI:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2023.10.004
Abstract
"Die Fertilität in den USA weist ein zunehmend prozyklisches Muster auf. Wir argumentieren, dass dieses Muster dem Ernährerstatus von Frauen geschuldet ist: (i) der Anteil der Frauen am gesamten Familieneinkommen ist über die Zeit gestiegen; (ii) Frauen arbeiten mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit in relativ stabilen und antizyklischen Branchen, während Männer eher in volatilen und prozyklischen Branchen tätig sind. Dies führt zu einem antizyklischen Einkommensgefälle zwischen den Geschlechtern, da Frauen in Rezessionen zu Ernährerinnen werden, was einen Versicherungseffekt des Fraueneinkommens bewirkt. Unser quantitativer Rahmen besteht aus einem allgemeinen Gleichgewichts-OLG-Modell mit endogener Fertilität und Humankapital. Wir zeigen, dass die Veränderung der Zyklizität der Geschlechterbeschäftigung 38 bis 44 Prozent des Auftretens von prozyklischer Fertilität erklären kann. Unsere kontrafaktische Analyse zeigt, dass in einer Welt, in der Männer Krankenpfleger und Frauen Bauarbeiter werden, eine antizyklische Fertilität zu beobachten sein würde, allerdings auf Kosten einer geringeren Humankapitalakkumulation, da sich die Familien bei der Abwägung zwischen Qualität und Quantität stärker auf die Quantität konzentrieren." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
His and hers earnings trajectories: Economic homogamy and long-term earnings inequality within and between different-sex couples (2024)
Zitatform
Dunatchik, Allison (2024): His and hers earnings trajectories: Economic homogamy and long-term earnings inequality within and between different-sex couples. In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 94. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2024.100995
Abstract
"Economic homogamy has important implications for gender inequality and for economic inequalities between households. However, the long-term association between spouses’ earnings is not well understood. This study reconceptualizes economic homogamy as a life course process rather than a static state of being that can be adequately captured at a single point in time. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, I examine the association between spouses’ earnings trajectories over the course of 30 years of marriage to identify three distinct gender egalitarian earnings patterns among couples. 50 % of couples follow a Dual earner pattern, in which spouses follow similar, stable earnings patterns over time, 6 % of couples are Jointly mobile in that spouses’ earnings vary similarly and 5 % follow an Alternating earner pattern. A large minority of couples follow patterns of long-term specialization, with 34 % of couples following male breadwinner patterns and 5 % following Female breadwinner patterns. Multivariate analysis reveals that gender egalitarian earnings patterns are stratified by couples’ socio-economic status at marriage: while advantaged couples follow Dual earner patterns comprised of two stable earners, disadvantaged couples follow egalitarian earnings patterns characterized by joint earnings instability. By taking a long-term approach, this study provides insight into the varied ways gender equality in earnings manifests among married couples and reveals an important and understudied dimension of economic homogamy: the concentration of economic stability and instability within couples." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Male and female selection effects on gender wage gaps in three countries (2024)
Elass, Kenza;Zitatform
Elass, Kenza (2024): Male and female selection effects on gender wage gaps in three countries. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 87. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102506
Abstract
"A vast literature on gender wage gaps has examined the importance of selection into employment. However, most analyses have focused only on female labor force participation and gaps at the median. The Great Recession questions this approach because of the major shift in male employment that it implied. This paper uses the methodology proposed by Arellano and Bonhomme (2017) to estimate a quantile selection model over the period 2007–2018. Using a tax and benefit microsimulation model, I compute an instrument capturing both male and female decisions to participate in the labor market: the potential out-of-work income. Since my instrument is crucially determined by the welfare state, I consider three countries with notably different benefit systems – the UK, France and Finland. My results imply different selection patterns across countries and a sizeable male selection in France and the UK. Correction for selection bias lowers the gender wage gap and reveals a substantial glass ceiling with different magnitudes. Findings suggest that disparities between these countries are driven by occupational segregation and public spending on families." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 Elsevier) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Changing Fertility and Heterogeneous Motherhood Effects: Revisiting the Effects of a Parental Benefits Reform (2024)
Zitatform
Fitzenberger, Bernd & Arnim Seidlitz (2024): Changing Fertility and Heterogeneous Motherhood Effects: Revisiting the Effects of a Parental Benefits Reform. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 16966), Bonn, 54 S.
Abstract
"Using a semiparametric event study approach with a control group, we estimate the effect of motherhood on labor market outcomes in Germany, the child penalty. We further investigate how the 2007 parental benefits reform changed the child penalty while accounting for fertility effects. A large novel data set linking data from two administrative sources provides information on all births. Our estimation approach accounts for motherhood being a staggered treatment. The reform has small positive medium-run effects employment outcomes. It changes the selection into fertility and shows heterogeneous effects. However, the reform did little to reduce the average child penalty." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
Ähnliche Treffer
auch erschienen als: IAB-Discussion Paper, 08/2024 -
Literaturhinweis
The intergenerational correlation of employment: Mothers as role models? (2024)
Zitatform
Galassi, Gabriela, David Koll & Lukas Mayr (2024): The intergenerational correlation of employment: Mothers as role models? In: Labour Economics, Jg. 90. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102596
Abstract
"Linking data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults, we document a substantial positive correlation of employment status between mothers and their offspring in the United States. After controlling for ability, education, fertility and wealth, offspring of permanently employed mothers have an 11 percentage-point higher probability to be employed in each given year than those of never employed mothers. The intergenerational transmission of maternal employment is stronger to daughters but significant also to sons. Investigating potential mechanisms, we provide suggestive evidence for a role model channel, through which labor force participation may be transmitted. Offspring seem to emulate the example of their mother when they observe her working. By contrast, we are able to rule out alternative candidate explanations such as network effects, occupation-specific human capital and local conditions of the labor market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 Elsevier) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
A Cohort Replacement of Household Labour Supply in Germany and the UK (2024)
Zitatform
Geffen, Rona (2024): A Cohort Replacement of Household Labour Supply in Germany and the UK. In: Comparative Population Studies, Jg. 49, S. 467-492. DOI:10.12765/cpos-2024-18
Abstract
"In recent decades, fluctuating unemployment rates and welfare state retrenchment have led to increased levels of economic insecurity in some countries. At the same time, cultural norms and family policies have become more gender-egalitarian. While earlier research related these trends to the decline in the male breadwinner model, little is known about whether recent cohorts who entered adult life against the backdrop of a new socio-economic opportunity structure have established new configurations of household labour supply. Using sequence analysis and cluster analyses across harmonised longitudinal data (GSOEP, BHPS and Understanding Society) for a sample of adults born between 1961 and 1973 in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK), this study introduces an innovative indicator of household labour supply types and new descriptive findings on the cohort replacement of household labour supply in these two countries. Descriptive findings show that recent cohorts in both Germany and the UK are forming more gender-egalitarian households, as reflected by the decline in the male breadwinner model as well as by the rise of 1.5-male breadwinner households in Germany and dual-earner households in the UK. However, the proportion of single and low labour intensity households in recent cohorts has declined in the UK, while there has been no meaningful change in East Germany and a strong increase in West Germany. The evolution of household labour supply types can be attributed to the replacement of cohorts who entered adulthood and established their households under shifting socio-economic contexts and gender ideologies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Relative income within the household, gender norms, and well-being (2024)
Zitatform
Gihleb, Rania, Osea Giuntella & Luca Stella (2024): Relative income within the household, gender norms, and well-being. In: PLoS ONE, Jg. 19. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0306180
Abstract
"This study examines the effects of relative household income on individual well-being, mental health, and physical health in Germany. Consistent with previous studies, we document a dip in the distribution of households in which the wife out-earns the husband. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that husbands in couples in which the wife earns just more exhibit lower satisfaction with life, work, and health, and report worse physical health. Women in these couples report lower satisfaction with life and health, and worse mental health. Results on life, work, and health satisfaction among women are more pronounced in West Germany, consistent with previous evidence of gender norm differences between East and West Germany." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Labor Market Institutions and Fertility (2024)
Zitatform
Guner, Nezih, Ezgi Kaya & Virginia Sánchez-Marcos (2024): Labor Market Institutions and Fertility. (HCEO working paper / Human capital and economic opportunity global working group 2024,006), Chicago, Ill., 74 S.
Abstract
"Among high-income countries, fertility rates differ significantly, with some experiencing total fertility rates as low as 1 to 1.3 children per woman. However, the reasons behind low fertility rates are not well understood. We show that uncertainty created by dual labor markets, the coexistence of temporary and open-ended contracts, and the inflexibility of work schedules are crucial to understanding low fertility. Using rich administrative data from the Spanish Social Security records, we document that temporary contracts are associated with a lower probability of first birth. With Time Use data, we also show that women with children are less likely to work in jobs with split-shift schedules. Such jobs have a long break in the middle of the day, and present a concrete example of inflexible work arrangements and fixed time cost of work. We then build a life-cycle model in which married women decide whether to work, how many children to have, and when to have them. Reforms that eliminate duality or split-shift schedules increase women's labor force participation and reduce the employment gap between mothers and non-mothers. They also increase fertility for women who are employed. Reforming these labor market institutions and providing childcare subsidies would increase the completed fertility of married women to 1.8 children." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
When mothers do it all: gender-role norms, women's employment, and fertility intentions in post-industrial societies (2024)
Zitatform
Han, Sinn Won, Ohjae Gowen & Mary C. Brinton (2024): When mothers do it all: gender-role norms, women's employment, and fertility intentions in post-industrial societies. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 40, H. 2, S. 309-325. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcad036
Abstract
"Post-industrial countries with high rates of female labour force participation have generally had low fertility rates, but recent studies demonstrate that this is no longer the case. This has generated increased attention to how greater gender equality in the private sphere of the household may contribute to a positive relationship between women’s employment rates and fertility. Building on recent scholarship demonstrating the multidimensionality of gender-role attitudes, we argue that conversely, the prevalence of a gender-role ideology that supports women’s employment but places greater priority on their role as caregivers may depress the higher-order fertility intentions of working mothers. Using data from 25 European countries, we find that this type of gender-role ideology (egalitarian familism) moderates the relationship between mothers’ full-time employment and their intention to have a second child. This holds even after accounting for key features of the policy environment that are likely to mitigate work–family conflict. The analysis suggests that conflicting normative expectations for women’s work and family roles tend to dampen working mothers’ second-order fertility intentions, independent of work–family reconciliation policies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Spousal Labor Supply: Decoupling Gender Norms and Earning Status (2024)
Zitatform
Isaac, Elliott (2024): Spousal Labor Supply: Decoupling Gender Norms and Earning Status. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 17354), Bonn, 49 S.
Abstract
"Many household labor supply models divide couples by sex and identify separate male and female labor supply parameters. However, institutional factors in the labor market suggest that men are more likely to be primary earners in their household, meaning that intra-household gender gaps in labor supply may reflect both gender norms and earning status. I use a novel identification approach to disentangle the role of gender norms in intra-household labor supply by estimating collective labor supply models for different- and same-sex married couples. Among childless couples, I present point estimates and construct unified bounds showing that gender norms significantly increase the weight placed on women's utility by 1.1–5.1%, leading to lower labor supply. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the effect of gender norms on married, childless couples' labor supply is equivalent to a substantial widening of the gender wage gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The Economics of Gender-Specific Minimum Wage Legislation (2024)
Zitatform
Marchingiglio, Riccardo & Michael Poyker (2024): The Economics of Gender-Specific Minimum Wage Legislation. In: Journal of labor economics. 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
Adjustments in women's labour force participation in response to the deterioration of the labour market situation of the male partner (2024)
Zitatform
Matysiak, Anna, Anna Kurowska & Alina Maria Pavelea (2024): Adjustments in women's labour force participation in response to the deterioration of the labour market situation of the male partner. (SocArXiv papers), 86 S. DOI:10.31235/osf.io/bn4re
Abstract
"Earnings constitute one of the most important sources of income for most of the European families. In this context, growing instability of employment relations and the spread of nonstandard employment – which is usually less secure and less paid than standard employment – pose serious financial risks to families, especially the traditional and modernised male breadwinner couples which rely on one income. Such couples still constitute around 20%-50% of couples in the European Union. In this report, we examined one particular resilience strategy these couples may develop in case of men's entry to unemployment or involuntary nonstandard employment, namely woman's increase in her labor supply. We also investigate the role of country-specific policies in moderating her response. To this end, we conducted three empirical studies based on EU-SILC and EU LFS data which were complemented with policy indicators derived from EUROMOD and UKMOD. Our findings suggest that women living in (modernized) male breadwinner couples indeed react to the deterioration in men’s employment situation though this reaction is relatively weak. Namely, not more than 10% of women who were inactive or worked part-time prior to the deterioration of his employment situation increase their labor supply. This response is stronger in countries with better public childcare (though only in case of his entry into involuntary nonstandard employment and not unemployment) and lower marginal tax rates. Notably, it is not affected by the generosity of the social benefits." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))