Open AccessThe Opt-Out Continuation: Education, Work, and Motherhood from 1984 to 2012
Author(s) -
Tanya Byker
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
rsf
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.979
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 2377-8261
pISSN - 2377-8253
DOI - 10.7758/rsf.2016.2.4.02
Subject(s) - continuation , demographic economics , opting out , longitudinal data , demography , work (physics) , economics , sociology , mechanical engineering , computer science , keynesian economics , engineering , programming language
Debate about an increasing trend in highly educated women dropping out of the labor force to care for children-an opt-out revolution-has been considerable. I use unique features of the of Survey of Income and Program Participation-a large nationally representative sample, longitudinal structure, monthly labor-force outcomes, and repeated panels-to study trends in women's birth-related career interruptions over time and across the education spectrum. Methodologically, I use event studies to compare women's monthly labor-force outcomes on the extensive and intensive margins from twenty-four months before to twenty-four months after births in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Rather than an abrupt change in opting out, I find that the pattern of birth-related interruptions has changed surprisingly little over the past thirty years-substantial and sustained interruptions remain common for mothers in all education categories. Rather than a revolution, I find an opt-out continuation.