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An accounting exercise for the shift in life-cycle employment profiles of married women born between 1940 and 1960
[Eine Bilanzierung der Verschiebungen der Lebensverlauf-Beschäftigungsprofile von verheirateten Frauen der Jahrgänge zwischen 1940 und 1960]

Author

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  • Sebastien Buttet

    (Long Island University)

  • Alice Schoonbroodt

    (University of Iowa
    Centre for Population Change)

Abstract

Life-cycle employment profiles of married women born between 1940 and 1960 shifted upwards and became flatter. We calibrate a dynamic life-cycle model of employment decisions of married women to assess the quantitative importance of three competing explanations of the change in employment profiles: the decrease and delay in fertility, the increase in relative wages of women to men, and the decline in child-care costs. We find that the decrease and delay in fertility and the decline in child-care cost affect employment very early in life, while increases in relative wages affect employment increasingly with age. Changes in relative wages, in particular returns to experience, account for the bulk (67 percent) of changes in life-cycle employment of married women.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastien Buttet & Alice Schoonbroodt, 2013. "An accounting exercise for the shift in life-cycle employment profiles of married women born between 1940 and 1960 [Eine Bilanzierung der Verschiebungen der Lebensverlauf-Beschäftigungsprofile von ," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 46(3), pages 253-271, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabrs:v:46:y:2013:i:3:d:10.1007_s12651-013-0130-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s12651-013-0130-5
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    1. Christian Siegel, 2017. "Female Relative Wages, Household Specialization and Fertility," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 24, pages 152-174, March.

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