Mother's Employment: Cultural Imprint or Institutional Governance?

Abstract

In the public and scientific discussion on the political scope of action for improving employment opportunities for mothers, cultural aspects of female labour market participation often remain ignored. This study argues that employment decisions of mothers vary not only with the institutional settings but also with the dominant representative culture of a region. In order to study the effects of culture and institutions on maternal employment, Belgium, East, and West Germany are selected for empirical analysis. In a first step the article demonstrates that these regions differ considerably in terms of family political measures but also in terms of the cultural orientations with regard to female employment. While both Belgium and East Germany (but not West Germany) have well-developed public childcare systems for the under-3s, East Germans have a more favourable opinion towards female employment than Belgians. In a second step the study shows by means of panel analyses that these cultural differences strongly determine female employment behavior. Results indicate that both East and West German mothers have significantly higher employment probabilities in the long-run than Belgian mothers. The well-developed childcare infrastructure and the short parental leave lead only temporarily Á right after childbirth Á to higher employment rates among Belgian mothers. With increasing age of the child the significance of cultural dispositions result in higher overall employment probabilities among German mothers. These empirical findings support the theoretical approach of Pfau-Effinger in treating both institutional structures and culture as (equally) crucial factors in explaining cross-national differences in mothers' employment.

Working Women Worldwide. Age Effects in Female Labor Force Participation in 117 Countries

“…For a number of European countries, they find public childcare facilities increase female labor force participation. These findings are confirmed by Gornick et al (1997) as well as Hummelsheim and Hirschle (2010). We expect that higher enrollment in childcare is associated with higher FLPRs of women of 25 and above (H7a).…”

“…Clark, Ramsbey, & Stier Adler, 1991;Haghighat, 2002;Hummelsheim & Hirschle, 2010;Lincove, 2008). Contrary to studies into the effect of the intensity of religious views or practices (c.f.…”

Women's employment in the institutional and cultural context

“…This argument is supported by the findings of different empirical studies (Hummelsheim and Hirschle, 2010;Mandel, 2009;Saxonberg and Szelewa, 2007).…”

Pros and cons of family policies for mothers' labour market participation

“…Family policy measures, therefore, might be used in quite different ways by mothers in either part of the country, or might have different consequences in East and West. This is illustrated by a recent comparison of Belgium, West Germany, and East Germany (Hummelsheim and Hirschle, 2010). Whereas East Germany is characterized by an egalitarian gender culture, Belgium and, to a somewhat lesser degree, West Germany continue to be dominated by traditional family values, which impact mothers' work behaviour beyond existing institutional opportunities.…”

“…Whereas East Germany is characterized by an egalitarian gender culture, Belgium and, to a somewhat lesser degree, West Germany continue to be dominated by traditional family values, which impact mothers' work behaviour beyond existing institutional opportunities. Using Belgium as an example, the authors conclude that providing IJSSP 32,9/10 extensive publicly subsidized child care will not automatically increase mothers' employment rates unless the notion of working mothers is culturally approved (Hummelsheim and Hirschle, 2010). Gupta et al (2008) have found similar differences between the "Nordic countries", which are often lumped together in their role as egalitarian welfare state leaders.…”