Female labor market conditions and gender gaps in aspirations

Abstract

Aspirations for the future can influence investments made today, and gender gaps in aspirations can perpetuate gender gaps in outcomes. In this paper, we explore how the local labor market affects gender gaps in aspirations. Using a national longitudinal survey from Japan, we begin by documenting large gender differences in adolescents’ aspirations with respect to education, marriage, and fertility, as well as parental aspirations for their child’s education. We then show that these gender gaps – specifically, boys aiming for higher educational attainment as well as later marriage and fertility – are significantly smaller in municipalities with higher female employment. Consistent with this, we also find that female employment is associated with higher parental investments in girls relative to boys. We detect similar patterns when examining realized outcomes at age 19.