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The Great Depression and the rise of female employment: A new hypothesis

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  • Bellou, Andriana
  • Cardia, Emanuela

Abstract

The life-cycle labor supply of women born at the turn of the 20th century diverged sharply from previous cohorts. Although they had similar participation rates in early adulthood, younger cohorts were significantly more likely to work at middle age. This paper documents a link between these changing patterns of female labor supply and the Great Depression. We find that the onset of the Great Depression led to an increase in young women's employment in 1930 via an added-worker effect. Cohorts induced into the workforce in the early 1930s had significantly higher employment rates through the 1940s and 1950s of up to 3 percentage points, suggesting a permanent impact of the Great Depression on women's lifecycle labor supply.

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  • Bellou, Andriana & Cardia, Emanuela, 2021. "The Great Depression and the rise of female employment: A new hypothesis," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:80:y:2021:i:c:s0014498320300851
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2020.101383
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    Cited by:

    1. João Galindo da Fonseca & Charles Berubé, 2023. "Spouses, Children, And Entrepreneurship," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1165-1199, August.
    2. Bellou, Andriana & Cardia, Emanuela, 2021. "The Great Depression and the rise of female employment: A new hypothesis," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Miriam Fritzsche, 2024. "De-industrialization, local joblessness and the male-female employment gap," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0040, Berlin School of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great Depression; Female labor supply; Added worker effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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