Effects of birth spacing and timing on mothers' labor force participation

Miller, Carole F.; Xiao, Jing Jian

doi:10.1007/bf02298337

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The estimated coefficient on the HIGHFAMINC variable is negative, as hypothesized, and significant at the 1% level, a result consistent with Gerner and Zick (1983), Schultz (1990), and Miller and Xiao (1999). Apparently, in the present study, the higher the percentage of families with an annual income in excess of $200,000, the less the necessity of adult females to be labor force participants.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Accordingly, the greater the amount a state provides in welfare expenditures to female head-of-household units, the greater the degree to which the female heads of those households do not participate in the labor force (and "consume" leisure instead). Several prior studies have yielded findings consistent with this behavior (Blau and Robins (1988), Durbin (1973), Levy (1979), Miller and Xiao (1999), Moffit (1986Moffit ( , 1992, Robins and West (1980), Schultz (1990)). Indeed, historically this behavior has been reinforced because SSI recipients and Food Stamps recipients face restrictions on earned income in order to maintain eligibility.…”

Section: The Framework: Specific Model Variables and Hypothesessupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Furthermore, in the absence of significant gender discrimination, greater levels of educational attainment theoretically afford females a greater range of employment possibilities and a greater choice of superior (more "desirable") employment, e.g., higher paying jobs, thereby creating an incentive to enter the labor force. Indeed, previous studies by Gerner and Zick (1983), Rexroat (1990) and Miller and Xiao (1999) have found that higher educational attainment exercises a positive impact on female labor force participation. Therefore, we hypothesize a positive relationship between the percentage of a state's female population with a college degree and the FLFPR within that state.…”

Section: The Framework: Specific Model Variables and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Indeed, public assistance has been found in a variety of studies of earlier periods to significantly influence labor market behavior not only through labor force participation effects (Blau and Robins (1988), Durbin (1973), Gensler (1996), Levy (1979, Miller and Xiao (1999), Moffit (1986Moffit ( , 1992, Robins and West (1980), Schultz (1990)) but also through changing the pattern of geographic labor mobility (Carlson and Cebula (1981), Cebula (1978Cebula ( , 1991, Glantz (1975), Pack (1973, Renas (1980), Vedder (1976, Vedder and Cooper (1974)). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Recent Evidence on Factors Influencing the Female Labor Force Participation Rate

Cebula

Coombs

2007

J Labor Res

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: The Framework: Specific Model Variables and Hypothesessupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: The Framework: Specific Model Variables and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Recent Evidence on Factors Influencing the Female Labor Force Participation Rate

Cebula

Coombs

2007

J Labor Res

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“…Nonetheless, Karimi (2014a) was able to show with a Swedish sample, that a longer spacing is more and increasingly beneficial for women's income as it enables them to return to the labor market between births -which results in a higher and profitable attachment to the labor market (see also Miller/Xiao 1999;Troske/ Voicu 2009). West Germany's institutional framework, however, has been setting considerable constraints to such a quick return to the labor market after the first birth.…”

Section: Spacing the Second Birthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there a wrong time for a right decision? The impact of the timing of first births and the spacing of second births on women’s careers

Brehm¹,

Buchholz²

2014

JFamRes

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The issue of how to reconcile family and work is particularly relevant in the light of West Germany’s institutional and normative framework which has been facilitating mothers of young children to withdraw from the labor market for some years. Though the topic has already been subject to academic debate, the questions remain if and how women’s careers are influenced by the way women embed their prevalently two births into their employment biographies as well as if educational groups differ in these effects. So far, research has mainly focused on the first birth’s timing: aspirations to establish firmly on the labor market suggest a postponement of the first birth to some degree. The effect is less obvious for the spacing between first and second births: to avoid a detrimental career discontinuity, women can either choose a short spacing, blocking their periods of unpaid caregiving tightly for a quick and definite occupational return, or space their births widely, intermitting their parental leaves with periods of employment. Using NEPS data for West German mothers of two, the study finds that compared to career entry, the occupational prestige at age 45 is severely impaired by the period after women’s first birth. While this is not affected by a specific timing, higher educated women tend to time their firstbirths least detrimentally. With regard to the spacing, evidence suggests that only higher educated women can achieve to continue their prestige accumulation, namely by spacing their births very tightly. Lower and intermediately educated women’s prestige, in contrast, cannot be impaired considerably by their spacing behavior, unless they decide to return to part-time employment soon after their first birth. Zusammenfassung Die Frage nach einer erfolgreichen Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf stellt sich insbesondere in Westdeutschland, wo der institutionelle und normative Rahmen Mütter ermutigt, mehrere Jahre für die Betreuung ihrer Kleinkinder zuhause zu bleiben. Trotz umfassender Forschung zum Thema blieben bisher die Fragen offen, inwiefern weibliche Karrieren durch die zeitliche Einbettung der überwiegend zwei Geburten in die Erwerbsbiografien beeinflusst werden und ob sich Bildungsgruppen darin unterscheiden. Bisher konzentrierte sich die Forschung dahingehend vor allem auf das Timing der Erstgeburt: Um sich fest am Arbeitsmarkt zu etablieren scheint eine gewisse Verzögerung der Erstgeburt hilfreich. Bezüglich des Spacings zwischen Erst und Zweitgeburt liegen hingegen zwei Strategien nahe: Entweder bekommen Frauen ihre Kinder kurz nacheinander um danach endgültig an den Arbeitsmarkt zurückzukehren, oder sie nutzen einen langen Abstand zwischen den Kindern für eine berufliche Episode. Mithilfe eines NEPS-Samples zweifacher Mütter kann die Studie aufzeigen, dass ihr berufliches Prestige zwischen Karriereeinstieg und dem Alter 45 insbesondere von der Episode nach der ersten Geburt beeinträchtigt wird. Obwohl dies nicht durch ein bestimmtes Timing bedingt ist, er-weist sich das Timing höher gebildeter Frauen als am wenigsten nachteilig. Für das Spacing zeigt sich, dass nur höher gebildete Frauen nach ihren Betreuungsphasen noch Prestige anhäufen können, so sie denn ihre Kinder im kurzen Abstand zueinander bekommen. Die Prestigeentwicklung von Frauen mit geringerer Bildung hingegen wird nicht wesentlich durch das Spacing vermindert, außer sie entscheiden sich kurz nach der Geburt des ersten Kindes für die Rückkehr in einen Teilzeiterwerb.

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The effect of the timing and spacing of births on the level of labor market involvement of married women

Troske

Voicu

2012

Empir Econ

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E S ABSTRACT The Effect of the Timing and Spacing of Births on the Level of Labor Market Involvement of Married WomenWe use panel data from NLSY79 to analyze the effects of the timing and spacing of births on the labor supply of married women in a framework that accounts for the endogeneity of labor market and fertility decisions, the heterogeneity of the effects of children and their correlation with the fertility decisions, and the correlation of sequential labor market decisions. Our results show that timing and spacing of births are important determinants of the effect of children on women's labor supply. Delaying the first birth leads to higher levels of labor market involvement before the birth of the first child and reduces the negative effect of the first child on the level of labor market involvement. Having the second birth after a longer interval reduces the effect of the second child on participation but increases its effect on the probability of working full time, as more women, having returned to work, respond to the second birth by moving from full time to part time jobs. Individual heterogeneity plays an important role in the relationship between labor market and fertility decisions. Women who have fewer children have the first birth later in life and space subsequent births more closely together, work more before the birth of the first child, but face larger effects of children on their labor supply.JEL Classification: C11, C15, J13, J22

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Effects of birth spacing and timing on mothers' labor force participation

Cited by 9 publications

References 19 publications

Recent Evidence on Factors Influencing the Female Labor Force Participation Rate

Recent Evidence on Factors Influencing the Female Labor Force Participation Rate

Is there a wrong time for a right decision? The impact of the timing of first births and the spacing of second births on women’s careers

The effect of the timing and spacing of births on the level of labor market involvement of married women

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