Maternal Employment Rates Research Articles

The interactive effect of maternity leaves and child care enrollment on maternal employment

This cross-country empirical research investigates the impact of maternity leaves and the child care enrollment rates on increasing maternal employment. By analyzing data from OECD countries with country-fixed effects, we find that the child care enrollment for 0–2 year olds increases the maternity employment rate. We confirm an inverted U-shaped relationship between the maternity leave duration and the maternity employment rate, as evidenced in prior studies. More interestingly, we find that an interaction term between child care enrollment and maternity leave duration is significantly positive, suggesting that two variables play a complement role in enhancing maternal employment rate. By examining the independent and complementary effects of extended maternity leave and child care enrollment rates, our study suggests that their combined use significantly enhances maternal employment rates, highlighting a complementary relationship that policymakers should consider to support working mothers effectively.

Child care access for families raising children with disabilities

Access to affordable, quality child care is a crucial employment support for families and may be particularly salient for families with young children with disabilities. Without access to quality care, parents may not be able to find and maintain employment, increasing the likelihood of economic precarity. We use data from the ECLS-B to examine whether child care arrangements differ by child’s disability status. We find that having an identified disability in childhood, and particularly IEP receipt, is associated with increased likelihood of attending center-based and part-time care as well as lower child care costs. To investigate the extent to which child care access may be impacting maternal employment, we employ a difference-in-difference framework to examine changes in maternal employment rates at kindergarten enrollment by disability status. We find no difference, or possibly a smaller increase, in maternal employment at kindergarten enrollment for mothers of children with disabilities compared to mothers of typically-developing peers. Findings emphasize the importance of understanding the overall policy environment for children with disabilities and their families.

Immigration, Female Labour Supply and Local Cultural Norms

Abstract We study the local evolution of female labour supply and cultural norms in West Germany in reaction to the sudden presence of East Germans who migrated to the West after reunification. These migrants grew up with high rates of maternal employment, whereas West German families mostly followed the traditional breadwinner-housewife model. We find that West German women increase their labour supply and that this holds within households. We provide additional evidence on stated gender norms, West-East friendships, intermarriage and child care infrastructure. The dynamic evolution of the effects on labour supply is best explained by local cultural learning.

Dikkat eksikliği hiperaktivite bozukluğu olgularında kötü muamelenin belirti düzeyine etkisi

Purpose This study aimed to compare the impact of maltreatment on the subtype, comorbidity, sociodemographic characteristics, and psychometric characteristics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
 Materials and Methods: The study participants included 150 treatment-naïve children with ADHD with (n=75) and without (n=75) a history of maltreatment by parents. A sociodemographic form, the Conners Parent Rating Scale (CPRS), the Conners Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS), the Family Assessment Device (FAD), and the Stroop Form were applied.
 Results: Earlier referral, peer discord, and lower parental age were frequent in the maltreated group, while the maternal employment rates were significantly lower. ADHD-combined type and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder were significantly higher in the maltreated group. The CPRS and FAD scores were also significantly higher).
 Conclusion: A higher incidence of destructive behavioral patterns may increase the risk of maltreatment. Families of children with hyperactivity and defiant characteristics may have difficulties in managing behavioral problems and may exhibit domestic violence, with the Multidisciplinary approaches, including parental education programs and social investigation, should be considered.

Early Maternal Employment And Children's School Readiness: Changing Associations Over Time?

This study assessed whether the links between early maternal employment and children’s school readiness have changed over time. Research has examined mothers’ labor force participation and its associations with children’s well-being. As maternal employment has become more normative, these associations may have changed, particularly among subgroups of families. Data come from two large, longitudinal samples of children born in the U.S. in 1991 (N = 1042) and in 2001 (N = 7850). OLS regression models estimated changes between cohorts in the associations between early maternal employment and children’s reading/language skills, math skills, and conduct problems at age 4 and school entry. Despite similar prevalence rates of maternal employment by 9 months between the 1991 and 2001 samples, there were differences in the demographic characteristics of mothers in each employment pattern over the decade. Examining associations between the early maternal employment patterns and children’s school readiness, results revealed that full time employment by 9 months in comparison to non-employment shifted to having more positive associations with reading/language skills at age 4 and school entry from 1991 to 2001. However, full time maternal employment by 9 months was associated with children’s higher conduct problems at school entry in 1991 and 2001, and by 2001, part time employment had similar repercussions. The results differed by family income. There have been small changes in the associations between early maternal employment and children’s school readiness over time.

Balancing Work-Family Roles: The Experiences of Solo Parent School Administrators

The rising educational attainment for women and economic uncertainty gave rise to high maternal employment rates and the global labour force participation of women. Often working mothers, are put into the complexities of work and family life, resulting in stress and perplexity of values and priority. The phenomenological paper intends to explore the day-to-day life experiences and the balance of work-home life of school administrators involved in solo-parenting in the Diocesan Schools of Negros Occidental, Philippines. The data were collected using an in-depth interview from four school administrators chosen through purposive sampling. Thematic analysis following Lichtman's three Cs: coding, categorizing, and conceptualizing was used to analyse the data. The findings show that playing the role of an administrator and being a solo parent at the same time is both a challenging and rewarding task. School administrators employed various coping mechanisms such as seeking external help and involving in productive activities to manage daily stressors. In the absence of their spouse, time management is essential, and spending quality time with children is always a priority. The findings may provide baseline data for designing and implementing stress management programs to ensure the balance of work-family roles.

The Long-Run Effects of Wage Replacement and Job Protection: Evidence from Two Maternity Leave Reforms in Great Britain

This paper examines the effects of maternity leave coverage on women’s employment and career trajectories in Great Britain using data from the British Household Panel Survey. Using a difference-in-differences identification strategy and two changes to the national maternity leave policy, I distinguish between the effects of expanding access to wage replacement benefits and the additional effects of providing job protection benefits. Access to paid maternity leave increases the probability of returning to work after childbirth in the short run, but has no effect on long-run employment. Expanding the amount of job protection available to new mothers results in substantial increases in maternal employment rates and job tenure more than five years later. However, job protected leave expansions lead to fewer women holding management positions and other jobs with the potential for promotion. Although these maternity leave policies have large employment effects on the extensive margin, there is little evidence of effects on average earnings.

Mothers’ employment and child care choices across the European Union

The aim of this paper is to analyse cross-country differences in the maternal employment patterns and the demand for formal and informal child care as interrelated decisions across Europe. We explore a sample of preschoolers and their mothers drawn from the EU-SILC (2005–2013) in a set of 11 EU countries with different institutional settings. The analytical strategy – a set of simultaneous tobit models – allows for mutual interdependencies across decisions. The results vary across welfare regimes and are related to the public provision of child care as well as other dimensions of the institutional context and values. We have found complementarities between paid employment and child care while formal and informal care are shown to be mutual substitutes, even in countries where the provision of external, formal child care is very extended and child care does not depend much on families. This means that the mere expansion of public child care is not enough to improve maternal employment rates. Other institutional aspects of the labour market and societal values also need to be taken into account in this endeavour.

Immigration and the Evolution of Local Cultural Norms

We study the local evolution of cultural norms in West Germany in reaction to the sudden presence of East Germans who migrated to the West after reunification. These migrants grew up with very high rates of maternal employment, whereas West German families followed the traditional breadwinner-housewife model. We find that West German women increase their labor supply and that this holds within household. We provide additional evidence on stated gender norms, West-East friendships, intermarriage, and childcare infrastructure. The dynamic evolution of the local effects on labor supply is best explained by local cultural learning and endogenous childcare infrastructure.

The intergenerational transfer of the employment gender gap

We investigate the extent to which the gap in employment rates between genders is shaped by the intergenerational transfer of gender norms. We employ rich longitudinal registry data covering the entire Norwegian population between the years 1970 and 2009 and show that a parsimonious set of family and municipality characteristics, measured in childhood, can explain a substantial part of the gender gap in full-time employment. The characteristics primarily operate through their impact on female (not male) employment. Children raised in “high gender gap” conditions (low-educated parents, non-working mother and raised in a municipality at the highest decile for Christian Democrat voter support and lowest decile in maternal employment rates) demonstrate an employment gender gap almost four times larger than those raised in “low gap” conditions. Our key childhood characteristics are also related to other career indicators (education, earnings, age at first marriage, age at first childbirth, being the primary breadwinner) in a way that is consistent with the transfer of gender norms. Thus, the gender employment gap appears to be shaped by intergenerational transfers of norms even in one of the most gender equal societies in the world.

The invisible gap between public policy and company practices in supporting fatherhood: the Italian case

ABSTRACTWork and family reconciliation is a key issue for many countries; in Italy, it is also an important and crucial challenge. Though initially considered a predominantly female issue impacting the maternal employment rate, the importance of fathers in the family domain is now widely acknowledged in policy discourses (such as leave policies). However, an emphasis on ‘fathers’ rights’ has not yet produced the expected improvements in term of men’s sharing care responsibilities and fathers’ involvement in children’s lives. This paper first describes the legislative context along with data on the use of leaves by employed parents. Then three company case studies in the North of Italy are presented and analysed, where both managers and fathers were interviewed to understand the facilitators and barriers for fathers’ leave-taking within companies.

Influence of paid maternity leave on return to work after childbirth

Background:Paid maternity leave (ML) has been associated with better health outcomes in mothers and newborns. However, its protective role in mothers’ employment after childbirth remains unclear.Objective:To assess the association between paid ML and being employed 1-year after childbirth.Methods:As part of the INfancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) cohort study, 507 Spanish women employed at 12th week of pregnancy, were asked about their employment status and job characteristics at 32nd week of pregnancy. One year after childbirth, they were re-interviewed about their employment status and if they had taken paid ML. Incidence of maternal employment 1-year after childbirth was estimated. Crude and adjusted associations with paid ML were assessed by logistic regression, and characterized by odds ratios (ORs) with associated 95% CIs.Results:Information was obtained from 398 women. Of those, 290 (72.9%) were employed 1-year after childbirth. Incidence of maternal employment was lower for those who: i) didn’t take paid ML, ii) were younger than 27 years; iii) had temporary contract, iv) had part-time jobs, v) reported less-favoured familiar social class, and vi) left the job before 32 weeks of pregnancy. Being employed 1-year after childbirth was more common in those who took paid ML (OR 2.7, 95%CI 1.6-4.5), also after adjusting for staying at work until advanced stages of pregnancy (OR 1.8, 95%CI 1.0-3.1).Conclusions:Taking paid ML seems to be associated with higher maternal employment rates 1-year after childbirth. Therefore, our findings suggest that protection of maternity might positively influence women’s labour market participation after childbirth.

Does Formal Child Care Availability for 0–3 Year Olds Boost Mothers' Employment Rate? Panel Data Based Evidence from Belgium

In 2003, a new multi-annual program aimed at increasing the availability of formal child care for 0-3 year old children was launched in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. This paper is interested in evaluating if this increased availability of formal child care resulted in a higher employment rate for women with at least one child under 3. To this end, we use a difference-in-differences approach based on municipality-level panel data, taking advantage of the fact that the increase in availability of formal child care differed greatly across municipalities. We find that the raise in child care availability significantly increased the maternal employment rate, but to a lesser extent than expected, most likely because of a substantial crowding-out effect.

Has improved daycare accessibility increased Japan's maternal employment rate? Municipal evidence from 2000–2010

Over the past decades, female labor force participation in Japan has continued to expand, accompanied by an improvement in daycare accessibility. This paper quantifies the daycare effects on employment of mothers with preschool children, analyzing newly constructed municipality-level data covering 1758 municipalities for 2000, 2005, and 2010. The results suggest that 5%–11% of the increase in maternal employment rate during 2000–2010 was attributable to the improvement in daycare accessibility. However, the daycare effects on maternal employment are quite limited compared with those on enrollments at licensed daycare centers. Our new evidence suggests that such discrepancy could emanate from the fact that better access to licensed daycare centers encouraged working mothers to switch from kindergartens.

The impact of an unconditional parental benefit on employment of mothers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to solve the puzzle of the disproportionately lower employment rate of mothers of toddlers with relation to the employment rate of mothers of preschool and school-age children in Estonia.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on the Most Similar System Design and compares Estonia with Lithuania. The applied methods include inferential statistics and microsimulation techniques, employing the OECD Benefits and Wages Calculator, the OECD Family Support Calculator and EUROMOD – the European tax-benefit microsimulation model.FindingsThe comparison revealed that the overwhelming majority of the crucial aspects of socio-cultural, economic and institutional conditions were more favourable for maternal employment in Estonia than in Lithuania. This explains the higher maternal employment rates both for mothers of pre-schoolers and school-age children in Estonia. However, one particular element of the institutional context targeted to the mothers of toddlers – the unconditional parental benefit – had an entirely opposite character. This particular feature of the parental leave scheme was the only factor that could explain why the employment rate of mothers of toddlers is disproportionately lower than the employment rate of mothers of older children in Estonia and much lower than the employment of mothers of toddlers in Lithuania.Originality/valueThis study complements previous research by providing evidence on the relative importance of universal parental benefit schemes in the context of other country-specific conditions for maternal employment, including the availability of institutional childcare. Furthermore, the results presented show that childcare regime typologies, at least those that characterise Eastern European countries, should be more sensitive to children’s age.

Association between preterm birth and its subtypes and maternal sociodemographic characteristics during the post-transitional phase in a developing country with a very high human development index

ObjectivesChile is a post-transitional country evolving towards a stationary population pyramid, which may be associated with increasing preterm birth (PTB) rates. This study aimed to compare maternal sociodemographic characteristics between the start of the post-transition phase (1994) and an established stage (2013) and to evaluate associations between these characteristics and PTB. Study designAn observational analytic design was conducted using national birth records (n = 4,956,311). MethodsVariables analysed in the 20 birth cohorts from 1994 to 2013 were: length of gestation (preterm <37 weeks) subdivided by gestational age (extreme, moderate/severe and late); maternal age (≤19, 20–35 and >35 years); education level (<8, 8–12 and >12 years of education); employment; marital status; area of residence; and type of birth (singleton, twins, and triplets or higher order). The prevalence of PTB was expressed as a percentage, and associations between PTB and predictor variables were analysed using logistic regression models. ResultsEducation level, age >35 years, maternal employment, unmarried status, twin delivery and urban residency rates increased between 1994 and 2013. According to the adjusted models, age >35 years and delivery of more than two foetuses were risk factors for all PTB subtypes. Maternal employment was a risk factor for moderate/severe, late and total PTB, and a low level of education was a risk factor for late and total PTB. On the other hand, age ≤19 years was protective against all PTB subtypes. ConclusionsAll maternal characteristics changed between 1994 and 2013. Furthermore, the prevalence of PTB increased for all predictor variables studied over this period.

Maternal Nonstandard Work Schedules and Breastfeeding Behaviors

Objectives Although maternal employment rates have increased in the last decade in the UK, there is very little research investigating the linkages between maternal nonstandard work schedules (i.e., work schedules outside of the Monday through Friday, 9–5 schedule) and breastfeeding initiation and duration, especially given the wide literature citing the health advantages of breastfeeding for mothers and children. Methods This paper uses a population-based, UK cohort study, the Millennium Cohort Study (n = 17,397), to investigate the association between types of maternal nonstandard work (evening, night, away from home overnight, and weekends) and breastfeeding behaviors. Results In unadjusted models, exposure to evening shifts was associated with greater odds of breastfeeding initiation (OR 1.71, CI 1.50–1.94) and greater odds of short (OR 1.55, CI 1.32–1.81), intermediate (OR 2.01, CI 1.64–2.47), prolonged partial duration (OR 2.20, CI 1.78–2.72), and prolonged exclusive duration (OR 1.53, CI 1.29–1.82), compared with mothers who were unemployed and those who work other types of nonstandard shifts. Socioeconomic advantage of mothers working evening schedules largely explained the higher odds of breastfeeding initiation and duration. Conclusions Socioeconomic characteristics explain more breastfeeding behaviors among mothers working evening shifts. Policy interventions to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration should consider the timing of maternal work schedules.

Childcare availability, household structure, and maternal employment

We estimate the causal effects of childcare availability on the maternal employment rate using prefecture panel data constructed from the Japanese quinquennial census 1990–2010. We depart from previous papers on Japan by controlling for prefecture fixed effects, without which the estimates can be severely biased upward. Contrary to popular belief, childcare availability is uncorrelated with maternal employment when prefecture fixed effects are controlled. Evidence suggests that this is because households shift from using informal childcare provided by grandparents to the accredited childcare service, as more and more households do not live with grandparents. If this change of the household structure did not occur, the growth of childcare availability would have increased the maternal employment rate by two percentage points, which accounts for about 30% of the growth in the maternal employment rate from 1990 to 2010.

Crowding-Out Effect of Publicly Provided Childcare: Why Maternal Employment Did Not Increase

We estimate the causal effects of childcare availability on the maternal employment rate using prefecture panel data constructed from the Japanese quinquennial census 1990-2010. We find that childcare availability did not increase maternal employment, because the expansion of accredited childcare crowded out informal childcare provided by grandparents. However, as more and more families do not live with grandparents who used to take care of grandchildren, this crowding effect became weaker in the 2000's.

Childcare subsidies and labour supply — Evidence from a large Dutch reform

After the introduction of the Law on Childcare in 2005, childcare subsidies in the Netherlands became much more generous. Public spending on childcare increased from 1 to 3 billion euro over the period 2004–2009. Using a differences-in-differences strategy we find that, despite the substantial budgetary outlay, this reform had only a modest impact on employment. Furthermore, the rather small effects we find are likely confounded by a coincident increase in the EITC for parents with young children of 0.6 billion euro, which presumably also served to increase the labour supply of the group. The joint reform increased the maternal employment rate by 2.3 percentage points (3.0%) and maternal hours worked by 1.1h per week (6.2%). The results further suggest that the reform slightly reduced hours worked by fathers.