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Mothers' Employment Participation: The Role of Partner Involvement and Selection Processes
Author(s) -
Ingenfeld Julia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12755
Subject(s) - disadvantaged , division of labour , selection (genetic algorithm) , work (physics) , child care , educational attainment , affect (linguistics) , demographic economics , paid work , psychology , domestic work , labour economics , social psychology , economics , medicine , working hours , economic growth , mechanical engineering , communication , artificial intelligence , pediatrics , computer science , engineering , market economy , wage
Objective This paper examines how a couple's division of housework and child care affects mothers' postnatal work hours, taking into account selection processes. Background Past research on mothers' employment suggests that male partners' involvement in domestic work is positively associated with mothers' employment participation. However, it is unknown to what extent this association is driven by selection processes, rather than partner behavior. This paper examines whether selection processes may jointly determine a couple's division of domestic work and a mother's postnatal work hours, and therefore account for the relationship between partner involvement in domestic work and a mother's work hours. Method Using data from the 1991 to 2008 waves of the British Household Panel, this study employs structural equation modeling and fixed effects regression. The analyses account for multiple characteristics that may determine women's selection into egalitarian work–family arrangements. Results The findings show that selection effects do indeed play a role: The male partner's involvement in housework and child care does not significantly affect most mothers' postnatal work hours when selection effects are taken into account. Only mothers who are highly disadvantaged on the labor market—those with low income and educational attainment—benefit from the partner's involvement in child care, but not housework, in terms of their postnatal employment. Conclusion Mothers who are strongly disadvantaged on the labor market benefit most from family policies that encourage their partner's involvement in child care.