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The Causal Impact of Gender Norms on Mothers’ Employment Attitudes and Expectations

Author

Listed:
  • Hennig Hermes

    (ifo Institute)

  • Marina Krauß

    (University of Augsburg)

  • Philipp Lergetporer

    (Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Management, Campus Heilbronn & ifo Institute)

  • Frauke Peter

    (German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW))

  • Simon Wiederhold

    (Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), MLU Halle-Wittenberg & ifo Institute & Hoover Institution, Stanford University)

Abstract

This field experiment investigates the causal impact of mothers’ perceptions of gender norms on their employment attitudes and labor-supply expectations. We provide mothers of young children in Germany with information about the prevailing gender norm regarding maternal employment in their city. At baseline, over 70% of mothers incorrectly perceive this gender norm as too conservative. Our randomized treatment improves the accuracy of these perceptions, significantly reducing the share of mothers who misperceive gender norms as overly conservative. The treatment also shifts mothers’ own labor-market attitudes towards being more liberal—and we show that specifically the shifted attitude is a strong predictor of mothers’ future labor-market participation. Consistently, treated mothers are significantly more likely to plan an increase in their working hours one year ahead.

Suggested Citation

  • Hennig Hermes & Marina Krauß & Philipp Lergetporer & Frauke Peter & Simon Wiederhold, 2025. "The Causal Impact of Gender Norms on Mothers’ Employment Attitudes and Expectations," Munich Papers in Political Economy 38, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy and the School of Management at the Technical University of Munich.
    • Handle: RePEc:aiw:wpaper:38
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender norms; maternal employment; gender equality; randomized controlled trial;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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