scholarly journals Does Mothers’ Parental Leave Uptake Stimulate Continued Employment and Family Formation? Evidence for Belgium

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Wood ◽  
Neels
Keyword(s):  
Family Formation ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Employment Outcomes ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Parity Progression ◽  
Subsequent Fertility ◽  
Employed Mothers

Parental leave schemes undoubtedly facilitate the combination of work and family life during leave-taking. In addition to this instantaneous effect of parental leave uptake, a growing yet limited body of research addresses the question of subsequent effects of parental leave uptake. As work-family policies, such as parental leave, are geared towards stimulating family formation and (female) employment, this study assessed whether the individual uptake of parental leave by employed mothers after the birth of a child yielded differential parity progression and employment patterns compared to eligible employed mothers that did not take leave. Using data from the Belgian Administrative Socio-Demographic panel, we applied dynamic propensity score matching and hazard models. Our results indicate that previous leave uptake is a differentiating factor in subsequent fertility and employment outcomes, but also that (self-)selection strongly affects this relation. Descriptive analyses indicate that mothers who use leave shortly after childbearing exhibit a similar progression to second births, more third births and less fourth births, while displaying substantially lower hazards of exiting the labour force regardless of parity. However, when controlling for the fact that mothers who use parental leave exhibit a stronger pre-birth attachment to the labour force, work for larger employers in specific employment sectors, and also differ from non-users in terms of household characteristics (e.g., higher household income, more likely to be married and less likely to have a non-Belgian background), many associations between leave uptake and subsequent fertility and employment outcomes turn neutral or even negative. No indication for higher parity progression among leave users was found and the hazard of exiting the labour force was moderately higher for leave users. These empirical results are discussed in the Belgian context of low parental leave benefits, short leave entitlements and low uptake of parental leave, features which are also displayed by other Western European countries and contrast with the Nordic European countries studied in previous research.

scholarly journals Changing dynamics in female employment around childbirth

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Dirk Vlasblom ◽  
Joop Schippers
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
The Uk

There is a strong effect of childbirth on female labour supply.This effect, however, is changing over time.This article uses panel data on the last two decades on three European countries (the Netherlands, Germany, the UK) to study changes in female labour force behaviour around childbirth and tries to find an explanation for these changes by looking at differences between the three countries.We conclude that there are substantial differences in participation patterns between the three countries in our study and that policy measures and institutions such as childcare that make the costs of combining work and family lower relative to being a full-time mother seem to increase female participation rates.

Japan: leave policy and attempts to increase fathers’ take-up

2019 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
Hideki Nakazato
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
Leave Policy ◽  
Childcare Policy

This chapter is about the development of Parental Leave in Japan, and in particular efforts to increase take-up by fathers. Before the first legislation was agreed in 1991 under the LDP conservative government, there were repeated efforts to introduce legislation, in which the trade unions played an important role and with advocates referring to research on European countries and recommendations by international organisations. Most of the subsequent developments to Parental Leave were based on recommendations by official bodies consisting of representatives of employers, workers and public interests, then agreed by government and designed by civil servants. Today, fathers in Japan can take 12 months of paid leave, with six months paid at 67% of earnings, yet the take-up rate remains low, slightly over 3% of eligible fathers. The chapter argues that developments in leave policy have not been part of a broad and coordinated set of measures, combining Parental Leave policy with childcare policy, working hours legislation and changes to workplace culture. This has prevented the achievement of two stated goals, eliminating barriers for mothers to stay in the labour force and increasing fathers’ involvement in childcare and family life.

Parenthood and employment: the impact of policies and culture on gender inequality in Switzerland

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruedi Epple ◽  
Martin Gasser ◽  
Sarah Kersten ◽  
Michael Nollert ◽  
Sebastian Schief
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of cantonal social policies and cultural settings (in Switzerland) on women’s and men’s employment behaviour. Special consideration is given to the transition to parenthood. Design/methodology/approach – Based on data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS) this paper conducts multilevel analyses to test individual and cantonal effects on the probability of employment and on working hours. To analyse the effect of parenthood, models for women and men with children under three are contrasted with models for women and men without children or with older children. Findings – The paper documents the persistence of gender inequality in employment linked to parenthood. How the reconciliation of work and family life can be realised for women and men strongly depends on a set of policies and cultural conditions. Moreover, individual characteristics such as education or marriage are important predictors. Research limitations/implications – A shortcoming of this study is the focus on the individual employment use and not on household-level division of labour. This disadvantage is due to the design of the SLFS, which is (at present) the only available survey to allow regionalisation at the cantonal level. However, the paper adds important results to the debate about gender inequality and parenthood in Switzerland as previous research has focused only little on cantonal diversity. Originality/value – The paper connects to previous cantonal comparative studies of female employment but extends their analyses in three important ways. By analysing cantonal differences in policies and culture this paper takes the diversity of framework conditions in Switzerland into account. Furthermore it simultaneously analyses male and female employment behaviour to get a better understanding of gender inequality and parenthood.

scholarly journals Fertility Trends in European Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (353) ◽  
pp. 7-28
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Palma
Keyword(s):  
Total Fertility Rate ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
Family Formation ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Parity Progression ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
Fertility Trends ◽  
Human Fertility ◽  
The Family ◽  
Using Data

This work is intended as an attempt to illustrate and compare the pattern of fertility in European countries: Belarus, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. It deals with the analysis of fertility trends, with an emphasis on birth by parity. Using data from the Human Fertility Database (HFD) from the year 2016, it has considered the parameters of parity progression ratios (PPR), projected parity progression ratios (PPPR), age‑specific fertility rates (ASFR), age‑order specific fertility rates (AOSFR), and cumulated order‑specific fertility rates accordingly analysed. We have applied indicators known as the projected parity progression ratios to estimate trends of fertility. These offer a more detailed view of the family formation process than the traditional total fertility rate (TFR).

Women’s disadvantage in holding supervisory positions. Variations among European countries and the role of horizontal gender segregation

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Dämmrich ◽  
Hans-Peter Blossfeld
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Labour Force Survey ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Male Dominated ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Selection Of

Using the Labour Force Survey 2013, this paper examines gender differences in holding supervisory positions in 26 European countries and relates these differences to horizontal gender segregation, i.e. women and men working in different jobs. First, we confirm the findings of previous studies that women are still disadvantaged in holding supervisory positions in almost all countries. Second, by examining how women’s disadvantage varies when working in male-dominated, gender-mixed, and female-dominated occupations, we observe women’s lowest disadvantage in male-dominated occupations in most countries. Third, applying a two-stage multilevel analysis, we explore at the macro level how the country variation in women’s disadvantage in holding supervisory positions is related to horizontal gender segregation, selection of women in the labour market, and conditions facilitating the combination of work and family, and whether women’s disadvantage significantly differs among welfare regimes. We provide evidence that differences among welfare regimes capture much better country variation than single macro indicators.

Young women and men: Imagined futures of work and family formation in Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 778-798
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hill ◽  
Marian Baird ◽  
Ariadne Vromen ◽  
Rae Cooper ◽  
Zoe Meers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Women ◽  
Family Formation ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Workplace Flexibility ◽  
Future Success ◽  
Workplace Supports ◽  
Domestic Labour ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Future Work

In the debates about the future of work there is a lack of analysis on how young women and men are approaching their future work and family lives. In this article we use data collected in the Australian Women’s Working Future (AWWF) Project 2017 to analyse what young workers imagine will be important to their future success in work and family. We find that formal workplace supports for care, such as paid parental leave and childcare, and workplace flexibility are identified as very important. Shared domestic labour is also desired. Parents have the strongest expectations for care policy supports. Young men without children are least likely to factor these into future work trajectories, while young women do. However, data on women’s plans for family formation, compared with men’s, suggests that difficulties accessing vital care supports pose a risk to young women’s ability to work, form families and care.

scholarly journals Impact of a Reform Towards Shared Parental Leave on Continued Fertility in Norway and Sweden

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1205-1229
Author(s):  
Ann-Zofie Duvander ◽  
Trude Lappegard ◽  
Mats Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Fertility Behavior ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Equal Division ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Policy Effect ◽  
Work Burden

AbstractIt has been argued that a generous family policy aimed at a gender-equal division of childcare and economic responsibility will have a positive impact on childbearing. In this study, we investigate whether fathers’ parental leave use is related to continued childbearing and whether there has been a policy effect on fertility behavior due to the introduction of the father’s quota in Norway and Sweden. Fathers’ parental leave use may affect fertility by easing women’s work burden at home and thus enhancing the degree of compatibility between childrearing and female employment, and it may increase fathers’ interest in children and childcare. To distinguish causality from selection in the effects observed, we use the natural experiment of the introduction of the father’s quotas. The results indicate that the reforms did not influence fertility in Norway but that Swedish couples with a lower income had a temporary higher third-birth risk. Fathers in this group showed the greatest increase in leave use after the reform.

scholarly journals Women’s Vulnerability to the Economic Crisis through the Lens of Part-time Work in Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110012
Author(s):  
Valeria Insarauto
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Labour Supply ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Transmission Mechanism ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Part Time Work

This article studies women’s vulnerability to the economic crisis of 2008 through the lens of part-time work in Spain. It posits that part-time work made the female employment position more fragile by acting as a transmission mechanism of traditional gender norms that establish women as secondary workers. This argument is tested through an analysis of Labour Force Survey data from 2007 to 2014 that examines the influence of the employment situation of the household on women’s part-time employment patterns. The results expose the limited take-up of part-time work but also persistent patterns of involuntariness and underemployment corresponding to negative household employment situations, highlighting the constraining role of gender norms borne by the relative position of part-time work in the configuration of employment structures. The article concludes that, during the crisis, part-time work participated in the re-establishment of women as a family dependent and flexible labour supply, increasing their vulnerability.

The third birth in Great Britain

1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Wright ◽  
John F. Ermisch ◽  
P. R. Andrew Hinde ◽  
Heather E. Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Age At First Birth ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Subsequent Fertility ◽  
Lower Fertility ◽  
Time Varying Covariates ◽  
The Relationship

SummaryThe relationship between female labour force participation, and other socioeconomic factors, and the probability of having a third birth is examined, using British data collected in the 1980 Women and Employment Survey, by hazard regression modelling with time-varying covariates. The results demonstrate the strong association between demographic factors, e.g. age at first birth and birth interval and subsequent fertility behaviour. Education appears to have little effect. Surprisingly, women who have spent a higher proportion of time as housewives have a lower risk of having a third birth. This finding is in sharp disagreement with the conventional expectation that cumulative labour force participation supports lower fertility. These findings are briefly compared with similar research carried out in Sweden.

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