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.
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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)
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
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))
-
Literaturhinweis
How Do Households Fare Economically When Mothers Become Their Primary Financial Support? (2024)
Zitatform
McErlean, Kimberly & Jennifer L. Glass (2024): How Do Households Fare Economically When Mothers Become Their Primary Financial Support? In: Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Jg. 45, H. 2, S. 395-409. DOI:10.1007/s10834-023-09922-y
Abstract
"The economic circumstances in which children grow up have garnered much scholarly attention due to their close associations with well-being over the life course. While it has been well-documented that children are increasingly growing up in households where their primary financial support comes from their mother, regardless of whether she is partnered or single, the consequences for household economic well-being are unclear. We use the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation to quantify how a mother’s transition into primary earner status affects the economic well-being of her household and if the effects differ based on her relationship status. On average, household income declines and more households are unable to meet their economic needs once the mother becomes the primary earner. However, these declines in income are concentrated among partnered-mother households and mothers who transition from partnered to single during the year. At the same time, although many single mothers see an increase in household income, the majority of these households are still unable to meet their economic needs. These findings suggest that the shift to a welfare system that requires employment coupled with structural changes in the labor market have created financial hardship for most families." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))
-
Literaturhinweis
Unconditional cash transfers and maternal employment: Evidence from the Baby’s First Years study (2024)
Sauval, Maria ; Yoshikawa, Hirokazu ; Gennetian, Lisa A. ; Noble, Kimberly G. ; Duncan, Greg J. ; Fox, Nathan A. ; Magnuson, Katherine A.;Zitatform
Sauval, Maria, Greg J. Duncan, Lisa A. Gennetian, Katherine A. Magnuson, Nathan A. Fox, Kimberly G. Noble & Hirokazu Yoshikawa (2024): Unconditional cash transfers and maternal employment: Evidence from the Baby’s First Years study. In: Journal of Public Economics, Jg. 236. DOI:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105159
Abstract
"How the labor force participation of mothers of young children responds to unconditioned cash support remains an open question in policy debates. Using data from Baby’s First Years, a large-scale randomized controlled study, we generate new estimates of the impact of an unconditional monthly cash transfer on maternal employment behavior through a child’s first four yearsof life. We find no overall statistically detectable differences in whether mothers participated in the paid workforce or on total household earnings. Receipt of the cash transfer appears to have reduced hours of maternal work during the height of the pandemic in 2020–21." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 Elsevier) ((en))
-
Literaturhinweis
Maternal Employment Patterns and the Risk for Child Maltreatment (2024)
Zitatform
Schneider, William, Megan Feely & Jeehae Kang (2024): Maternal Employment Patterns and the Risk for Child Maltreatment. In: Social Service Review, Jg. 98, H. 1, S. 34-92. DOI:10.1086/728457
Abstract
"This study examines the complex, nonlinear, and understudied relationship between maternal employment, employment patterns, and four types of child maltreatment; describes the employment status and often nonstandard employment patterns of high-risk mothers at three child developmental ages; and applies the results in the context of three theories used in extant research to understand the relationship between economic hardship and child maltreatment. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we find that both too much and not enough paid employment are associated with increased risk for child maltreatment, neglect in particular. Our findings indicate that income-support programs tied to employment may be ineffective mechanisms for many families to balance time and money, key factors in the prevention of child maltreatment. As policy makers seek new approaches to prevent child maltreatment, scholars must understand and consider the employment patterns of at-risk mothers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
-
Literaturhinweis
Counter-stereotypical female role models and women's occupational choices (2022)
Zitatform
Chhaochharia, Vidhi, Mengqiao Du & Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi (2022): Counter-stereotypical female role models and women's occupational choices. In: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Jg. 196, S. 501-523. DOI:10.1016/j.jebo.2022.02.009
Abstract
"This paper examines the relation between counter-stereotypical female role models and women's labor supply and occupational choices. Using hand-collected data from Gallup surveys that cover more than 50 years, we create a direct measure of counter-stereotypical female role models based on the fraction of local survey respondents who state that they admire famous women in business, politics, or science. We show that admiring counter-stereotypical female role models is associated with more women participating in the labor market, working in male-dominated and STEM industries, and taking managerial positions, which eventually alleviates the gender pay gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))
-
Literaturhinweis
Gender and precarity in platform work: Old inequalities in the new world of work (2022)
Zitatform
Gerber, Christine (2022): Gender and precarity in platform work: Old inequalities in the new world of work. In: New Technology, Work and Employment, Jg. 37, H. 2, S. 206-230. DOI:10.1111/ntwe.12233
Abstract
"Platform work creates a work model that is both a curse and a blessing for vulnerable labour market segments. Based on research on female precarity, the article expects that remote platform work—so-called crowdwork—could especially attract women who need to combine income and care responsibilities. This article investigates whether women experience more precarity on crowdwork platforms than men, and why their risks differ. It analyses data from a quantitative survey with crowdworkers in Germany and the United States. The results indicate higher precarity risks for women due to care work, which are also indirectly mediated via the employment status. The higher commodification of labour and weaker social infrastructure lead to generally greater precarity risks for platform workers in the United States. The high differences between women and men in Germany underline the gendered nature of labour market dualization and precarization as well as the traditional division of housework. Policy measures should address both platform work and these structural inequalities." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))