Variations in the Labour Force Experience of Women Across Large Metropolitan Areas in the United States

Abstract

ODLAND J. and ELLIS M. (1998) Variations in the labour force experience of women across large metropolitan areas in the United States, Reg. Studies 32 , 333-347. Variations in women's labour force experience rates across the largest metropolitan areas of the US are analysed by decomposing the intermetropolitan variance of experience rates for 1989 into a series of components that include intermetropolitan variation in the demography of female populations and intermetropolitan variation in the labour force participation of women with similar demographic characteristics. Variation in experience rates for women with similar characteristics accounts for more of the overall variation than variations in demography. Much of the intermetropolitan variation is accounted for by the behaviour of a few demographic groups, including mothers of small children. ODLAND J. et ELLIS M. (1998) La variation des taux d'activite feminins a travers d'importantes zones metropolitaines aux Etats-Unis, Reg. Studies 32 , 333-347. La variation des taux d'activite feminins a travers les plus importantes zones metropolitaines aux Etats-Unis se voit analyser a partir d'une decomposition de la variance intermetropolitaine des taux d'activite de 1989, y compris la variation intermetropolitaine de la demographie de la population feminine et la variation intermetropolitaine des taux d'activite des femmes dont les caracteristiques demographiques sont similaires. La variation des taux d'activite des femmes dont les caracteristiques sont similaires explique plus de la variation globale que ne l'explique la variation demographique, et la variation intermetropolitaine s'explique largement par le comportement de quelques groupes sociaux, y compris les meres d'enfants jeunes. ODLAND J. und ELLIS M. (1998) Underschiede in Erfahrung im Erwerbsleben von Frauen in ausgedehnten Grossstadtgebieten in den USA, Reg. Studies 32 , 333-347. Die Analyse von Unterschieden in den Raten der Erfahrung im Berufsleben von Frauen in ausgedehnten Grossstadtgebieten in den USA wird durch Zerlegung grossstadtisher Unterschiedlichkeit der Erfahrensraten fur das Jahr 1989 in eine Serie von Bestandteilen erreicht, die intergrossstadtische Unterschiede der Demographie der weiblichen Bevolkerung und intergrossstadtische Unterschiede der Teilnahme am Berufsleben von Frauen ahnlicher demographischer Eigenschaften einschliesst. Gesamtunterschiede beruhen mehr auf Unterschieden in Erfahrungsraten fur Frauen mit vergleichbaren Erfahrungen als auf demographischen Unterschieden, und intergrossstadtische Unterschiede beruhen auf dem verhalten einiger weniger demographischer Gruppen, einschliesslich Muttern mit kleinen Kindern.Labour Force Experience, Labour Markets, Women,

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

“…A second special feature of our dataset was that it allowed the characteristics of the regional labor market to be linked to the individual respondents based in that region as residents. The lack of such a possibility in many datasets might be the reason for many studies placing such a heavy emphasis on personal characteristics and not on conditions that are external to the individual (ODLAND and ELLIS, 1998).…”

“…Owing to a limited commuting tolerance, the employment opportunities available to most women (and men) are confined to locations within daily commuting of their homes (see ODLAND AND ELLIS, 1998). Research shows that women are particularly sensitive to commuting times, and that men will tolerate longer commuting times than women (MADDEN, 1981;GORDON et al, 1989;JOHNSTON-ANUMONWO, 1992).…”

“…In some countries the labor-force participation rates for mothers with infants have nearly doubled in that time (RUBERY et al, 1998;. These changes in participation are related to fundamental changes in gender roles, participation in education, family organization, and the labor market (ODLAND and ELLIS, 1998). The increase of female labor-force participation has led to a profound interest in the causes of the differences in women's participation rates both within and between countries (for an overview, see VAN DER LIPPE and VAN DIJK, 2002).…”

“…Most micro-economic approaches to women's labor supply have placed heavy emphasis on personal and household characteristics as the determinants of labor supply. Much less attention has been paid to macro-level labor market conditions external to the individual (ODLAND and ELLIS, 1998), although there is increasing interest in explaining women's employment by a combination of both individual characteristics and features of the macro-context ( VAN DER LIPPE and VAN DIJK, 2002).…”

Why do so few women work in New York (and so many in Minneapolis)? Labor supply of married women across US cities

“…Most studies use national data, with results are aggregated at the national level, and no attention is given to the possibility of meaningful local variation. A small body of work in economic geography does provide some evidence about cross-location variation in labor supply (e.g., Odland and Ellis (1998) and Ward and Dale (1992)), but this work does not seek to provide an explanation for the observed variation. In particular, we know of no work that posits the importance of fixed commuting costs for explaining local labor supply, and then evaluates predictions empirically.…”