MOTHER'S EMPLOYMENT: CULTURAL IMPRINT OR INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE?

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the public and scientific discussion on the political scope of action for improving employment opportunities for mothers, cultural aspects of female labour market participation often remain ignored. This study argues that employment decisions of mothers vary not only with the institutional settings but also with the dominant representative culture of a region. In order to study the effects of culture and institutions on maternal employment, Belgium, East, and West Germany are selected for empirical analysis. In a first step the article demonstrates that these regions differ considerably in terms of family political measures but also in terms of the cultural orientations with regard to female employment. While both Belgium and East Germany (but not West Germany) have well-developed public childcare systems for the under-3s, East Germans have a more favourable opinion towards female employment than Belgians. In a second step the study shows by means of panel analyses that these cultural differences strongly determine female employment behavior. Results indicate that both East and West German mothers have significantly higher employment probabilities in the long-run than Belgian mothers. The well-developed childcare infrastructure and the short parental leave lead only temporarily – right after childbirth – to higher employment rates among Belgian mothers. With increasing age of the child the significance of cultural dispositions result in higher overall employment probabilities among German mothers. These empirical findings support the theoretical approach of Pfau-Effinger in treating both institutional structures and culture as (equally) crucial factors in explaining cross-national differences in mothers' employment.