Unwilling or unable? spatial and socio-economic restrictions on females’ labour market access

Abstract

Abstract:We analyse the effects of regional structures on both females' willingness to work and the probability of being employed for those willing to work. Special permission was granted to link regional data to individual respondents in the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Results of a bivariate probit model correcting for sample selection show that high regional unemployment discourages women from entering the labor market. Those who are willing to work find it easier to do so if living in regions with low regional female unemployment rates, at a short distance from the next agglomeration, and -for motherswith a high density of childcare provision.

Symmetry and Asymmetry in Working and Commuting Arrangements between Partners in the Netherlands: Does the Residential Context Matter?

“…This spatial concentration of more traditional values might obscure effects from the residential context that have our primary interest. Religiosity is commonly used in models of female labour force participation as a proxy for traditional values (Van Ham & Büchel, 2006). We expect that religiosity increases the likelihood of gendered working and commuting arrangements, especially the likelihood of a female small part time arrangement and the traditional male breadwinner model.…”

A Step in a New Direction? The Effect of the Parent's Money Reform of 2007 on Employment Rates of Mothers in Germany

“…Starting with labor market characteristics, van Ham and Büchel (2006) observe that mothers are more likely to work if they are living in a region with a low unemployment rate, meaning a high job availability. They argue that high unemployment rates serve as a discouragement to even enter the labor market.…”

“…Studies investigated that there is a positive impact of child care availability on maternal employment ( (Spieß & Büchel, 2003), (Van Ham & Büchel, 2006)). A positive significant impact can, however, just be observed by inclusion of fullday care opposed to half-day care as often the inflexibility of opening hours of these institutions even prevent mothers to take a part-time employment (Kreyenfeld & Hank, 2000).…”

In Good Company Neighborhood Quality and Female Employment

“…In fact, even their spatial mobility is comparatively more limited [Weinberg, Reagan and Yankow 2004], and one can show that more women work closer to home (possibly because they take on a larger share of domestic parental responsibilities). 7 Using the subsample of women who live in Western Germany and are willing to work available in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), van Ham and Büchel [2006] find that women living in an area with a high unemployment rate are discouraged from entering the labor market.…”

“…In Labor Economics, empirical studies mainly focus on how neighbors influence individual employment probabilities [Bauer, Fertig and Vorell 2011;Ioannides and Loury 2004] and welfare receipt [Kling, Liebman and Katz 2007]. Studies specifically addressing neighborhood effects on womens' individual labor supply remain scarce, but a few notable examples are available [van Ham and Büchel 2006;Johnson 2014;Maurin and Moschion 2009]. Manski [1993] provides the conventional organizing framework, where there are three neighborhood effects to consider.…”