Housing cost and married women's labor force participation in 1980

Abstract

Regional patterns in married women's labor force participation rates have been durable over time as have regional patterns in housing costs. Over the decade of the 1970s rates of married women's labor force participation rose dramatically as did the cost of housing. This article is an empirical exploration of the relationship between intertemporal and intratemporal patterns of housing costs and the corresponding patterns of married women's labor force participation. Using individual data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 1980 and Census data from 1970 and 1980, this study shows that married women's labor force participation is related to patterns of housing costs in 1970 and 1980, but not the growth of housing costs over the decade. One can conclude that women are more likely to be employed where amenities valued by families such as good schools, and low crime rates are costly. One cannot conclude that substantial inflation of housing costs “pushed” married women into the labor force at greater rates during the 1970s.