Female Labour Supply and Intergenerational Preference Formation: Evidence for Mexico

Abstract

Using a national representative sample for Mexico, we analyse the effect of a husband having a working mother on the probability that he has a working wife. Our results show that labour force participation by a husband's mother increases the probability of the labour force participation of his wife by 15 percentage points. The effect is mainly driven by males with less than a high school education. One possible confounding factor is the effect of labour force participation of the wife's mother on the wife's labour participation decision. However, in a different sample, we do not find any effect of work force participation of wives' mothers on wives' decisions to join the labour force. Finally, we test the effect of the work force participation of a husband's mother on the husband's preferences regarding child-rearing practices. We find that having a working mother strongly reduces the probability that daughters will be tasked to care for siblings and fosters preferences for a more egalitarian allocation of educational resources among children. Hence, promoting female labour force participation can have important dynamic implications, especially for developing countries.

Is There a Case for Intergenerational Transmission of Female Labour Force Participation and Educational Attainment? Evidence From Greece During The Crisis

“…Bütikofer () finds that Swiss married women whose mothers‐in‐law were working are themselves more likely to participate in the labour force. This is corroborated by Campos‐Vazquez and Velez‐Grajales () for Mexico, Johnston et al . () for Britain, and Del Boca et al .…”

‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics

“…The greater the exposure to disconfirming evidence, the more it tends to be interpreted as evidence of men and women's typical characteristics, rather than just an unusual occurrence. Maternal employment appears particularly important in this regard (as also found by Bütikofer, ; Campos‐Vazquez and Velez‐Grajales, ). Perhaps this is because it is first‐hand evidence witnessed over a long period of time.…”

“…Going beyond politics, studies suggest that formative exposure to flexibility in gender divisions of labour undermines commitment to gender stereotypes. In Mexico, Switzerland and the USA, sons of working mothers are more likely to have working wives (Bütikofer, ; Campos‐Vazquez and Velez‐Grajales, ; Fernandez et al., ; Willets‐Bloom and Nock, ). Additionally, men and women from female‐headed households tend to express greater support for women's economic and political participation (Kiecolt and Acock, ).…”

The Intergenerational Transmission of Female Labour Force Participation by Gender among Native and Immigrant Europeans: A Focus on Religion

“…Due to the differences in data sources, some papers concentrate only on the link between working mothers and daughters' labour force participation (Evans & Kelley, 2008;van Putten et al, 2008) and others only on sons' wives (Bütikofer, 2013;Kawaguchi & Miyazaki, 2009). Others analyse the effect on both genders (Campos-Vazquez & Velez-Grajales, 2014;Johnston et al, 2014;Sandler Morrill & Morrill, 2013). Moreover, all papers concentrate on one country and just a few focus on Europe (Bütikofer, 2013;van Putten et al, 2008).…”