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Why do married women work less in the UK than in France?

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  • de Muizon, Marc Jourdain

Abstract

Compared to their French counterparts, British married women choose fewer working hours but similar employment rates. This is driven mostly by the labour supply choices of those with young children. To understand why, I estimate a structural labour supply model and simulate counterfactual hours distributions. Differences in non-work income and childcare prices together explain about two-thirds of the observed labour supply gap for mothers of young children. Most prime-aged British married women also face significantly lower taxes compared to their France counterparts though they do not work significantly more aggregate hours. I estimate strong preferences differences across the Channel.

Suggested Citation

  • de Muizon, Marc Jourdain, 2018. "Why do married women work less in the UK than in France?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 86-96.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:51:y:2018:i:c:p:86-96
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2017.12.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Marc Jourdain Muizon, 2020. "Subsidies for parental leave and formal childcare: be careful what you wish for," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 735-772, September.
    2. Karine Briard, 2020. "L’élasticité de l’offre de travail des femmes en France. Petite revue de méthodes et de résultats," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(5), pages 39-72.

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