Maybe Baby: Comparing Partnered Women's Employment and Child Policies in the EU-15

Abstract

This paper examines how child-related public policies influence women's employment in Europe. The analysis compares the difference in employment status between partnered mothers and nonmothers across the EU-15 using a wide range of self-constructed indicators of child policies such as childcare provision, parental leave, and tax-cash benefits. Using the recycled predictions method, it is possible to isolate the impact of the presence of a child from other characteristics likely to influence women's labor-market outcomes. Country-specific employment gaps among women are computed at different ages for the youngest child, for different outcomes (inactivity and part-time or full-time work), and for different levels of education. The main conclusion is that when it comes to securing equal labor-market access and conditions for mothers of young children and non-mothers, public childcare provision has the strongest impact. In the absence of public childcare, not even the most highly educated mothers can cope.Labor-market conditions, social policies, postponement of maternity, synthetic indicators, dual-earner couples, fertility,

Career lesbians. Getting hired for not having kids?

“…Moreover, recent research by De Henau et al . () suggests, based on household data of the EU‐15 countries, that the provision of public childcare has, out of all the child policy tools, the most substantial impact on equal labour market access and conditions for mothers of young children.…”

Labor Market Regimes, Family Policies, and Women's Behavior in the EU

“…Several studies find evidence of a strong positive effect of childcare on women's labor force participation (Becky Pettit and Jennifer L. Hook 2006;Hadas Mandel and Maxim Semyonov 2003;Eiko Kenjoh 2005;Kalmijn, Uunk, and Muffels 2005;Nadia Steiber and Barbara Haas 2009). De Henau, Meulders, and O'Dorchai (2010) test different policy indicators, and find that the proportion of children ages 0-2 having a place free of charge in childcare centers or family daycare centers is the best indicator for explaining cross-national variations of the relative difference in FTE employment rates between mothers and other women. In contrast, the duration of parental leave has a slightly negative effect on this motherhood gap.…”

Drivers of Female Labour Force Participation in the OECD

“…The provision of childcare services for children under three years of age plays a prominent role in helping women to balance work commitments and family responsibilities (De Henau et al, 2010;Del Boca et al, 2007;and, Jaumotte, 2003). However, cross-national variations in public money invested in the provision of education and childcare services are wide, despite substantial increases in expenditure across countries since 1980.…”