Familienpolitik, Bildung und Berufskarrieren von Müttern in Deutschland, USA und Schweden

Abstract

Zusammenfassung: Dieser Beitrag widmet sich der beruflichen Entwicklung von Müttern mit ungleichen Bildungsressourcen in international vergleichender Perspektive. Wir untersuchen die Strategien zur Vereinbarkeit von Berufskarrieren und Elternschaft in Deutschland, USA und Schweden für Frauen mit unterschiedlichem Schulbildungsniveau. Die Analysen beruhen auf länderspezifischen Längsschnittdaten (GLHS-West, NLSY, LNU). Mit Hilfe ereignisanalytischer Verfahren untersuchen wir, wie lange Mütter mit unterschiedlichem Bildungsniveau nach der Geburt eines Kindes ihre Erwerbstätigkeit unterbrechen, ob die Rückkehr, so, wie in Elternzeit-Programmen vorgesehen, auf dem vorherigen beruflichen Prestigeniveau erfolgt und unter welchen Umständen Müttern mit hohem, mittleren und niedrigen Schulbildungsniveau der berufliche Statuserhalt gelingt. Die hoch gebildeten Mütter zeigen in allen drei Ländern die stärks-te Arbeitsmarktbindung. In den USA sind fast die Hälfte der Mütter mit College Ausbildung kontinuierlich erwerbstätig, gegenüber einem Viertel der Mütter ohne High School Diplom. In Schweden unterbrechen Mütter für mindestens ein halbes Jahr, unabhängig vom Bildungsniveau. In Deutschland verzichtet ein Viertel der Mütter mit (Fach-)Abitur auf Elternzeit. Konsequenzen einer gesetzlichen Ausweitung der Unterbrechungszeiten sind in Deutschland und Schweden weitgehend bildungsunabhängig. In den USA kehren mittel-und hochqualifizierte Mütter nach Einführung des FMLA langsamer auf gleichwertige Positionen zurück.Abstract: This article compares the duration of and consequences for employment interruptions for mothers with distinct educational qualifications in cross-national perspective. We analyze the duration of mothers' employment interruption and the relative quality of the job after childbirth, for high and low qualified mothers in Germany, Sweden, and the United States. Analyses are based on harmonized national longitudinal data sets (GLHS-West, NLSY, LNU), which allow us to study mothers' careers over the past 30-35 years. We apply event-history analysis to study how long mothers with distinct educational levels interrupt employment after childbirth, and how the patterns of return to work differ with respect to mothers' educational level. In all three countries the highly educated display a greater labor market attachment. In the US, almost half of the mothers with some college background, compared to only a quarter of high-school dropouts stay employed continuously after childbirth. In Sweden, basically all mothers take time-out for at least half a year. In Germany, 25% of mothers with university entrance qualification do not claim parental leave. In Germany and Sweden consequences of leave extensions seem to operate independent of mothers' educational levels. In the U.S. medium and highly educated mothers tend to return more slowly after the enactment of the FMLA.

‘Only a Husband Away from Poverty’? Lone Mothers’ Poverty Risks in a European Comparison

“…These gendered norms do not only lead to the so called 'double burden' for mothers, but also to a 'motherhood penalty' -i.e. economic disadvantages in career development and earnings compared to childless women or to fathers (Benard and Correll 2010;Gangl and Ziefle 2009;Grunow et al 2011).…”

“…Consequently, in some countries the access to labor income is much more equal than in others. In a second step, countries might differ regarding the degree of occupational sex segregation -in which types of occupations, positions and working conditions women can find a job (Grunow et al 2011;Mandel and Semyonov 2006). Thereby, 'femaletypical' occupations are often characterized by relatively low earnings and working hours and meager career opportunities (Bardasi and Gornick 2008).…”

The duration of family-related employment interruptions – the role of occupational characteristics

“…However, these employment interruptions entail negative consequences for mothers' careers: they have a destabilising impact on future career paths (Grunow et al 2011) and a negative effect on further wage development (Boll 2009;Ondrich et al 2002;Ziefle 2004Ziefle , 2009. It is primarily the duration of the interruption that determines how severe these consequences are: the longer the interruption, the worse the career repercussions (Aisenbrey et al 2009;Boll 2009;Ejrnaes and Kunze 2013;Ondrich et al 2003;Ruhm 1998;Ziefle 2004).…”

“…For example, several studies detect a negative impact on wage development following the birth of a child (Ondrich et al 2003;Schmelzer et al 2015;Ziefle 2004). In addition to these monetary losses, especially long interruptions also have a destabilising effect on subsequent employment careers (Aisenbrey et al 2009;Grunow et al 2011).…”

“…Breaks that last longer than the statutory leave period entail particular risks, because the protection against dismissal that comes as part of statutory parental leave counteracts the potentially negative consequences of the interruption (Grunow et al 2011). This job protection during leave has a positive effect on women's labour force attachment (John and Stutzer 2002) and allows mothers to "continue their previous career and reap the full benefits of their investment in education [...]" (Grunow et al 2011, p. 426).…”