IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/trn/utwprg/2019-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Mothers’ and children’s employment in Europe. A comparative analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriella Berloffa
  • Eleonora Matteazzi
  • Alina Şandor
  • Paola Villa

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis using EU-SILC data of the correlation between mothers’ employment during adolescence and their children’s probability of being workless (i.e. either unemployed or inactive) at about 30 years of age in 19 European countries. By estimating various multilevel logit models, the paper shows that, on average, having had a working mother is associated with a reduction in the probability of being workless of about 25 to 35 percent for daughters and 20 to 25 percent for sons. Cross-country differences in these correlations are much larger for daughters than for sons, in particular for daughters with children, and do not reflect the usual country groupings. Our results suggest that mothers’ employment not only influences preferences for labor market participation, but also some attitudes or skills that favor their children’s successful integration into the labor market. Moreover, the observed correlation between mothers’ employment and their daughters’ labor market outcomes is lower in contexts where the burden of childcare falls more on women, highlighting that the presence of constraints on women’s choices may conceal mothers’ influence on daughters’ preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriella Berloffa & Eleonora Matteazzi & Alina Şandor & Paola Villa, 2019. "Mothers’ and children’s employment in Europe. A comparative analysis," DEM Working Papers 2019/14, Department of Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:trn:utwprg:2019/14
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.economia.unitn.it/alfresco/download/workspace/SpacesStore/0e1ab317-974f-4632-8d1e-699fc7f64c3d/DEM2019_14.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephanie Seguino, 2007. "PlusCa Change? evidence on global trends in gender norms and stereotypes," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 1-28.
    2. Lídia Farré & Francis Vella, 2013. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Role Attitudes and its Implications for Female Labour Force Participation," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 80(318), pages 219-247, April.
    3. Bart Defloor & Luc Van Ootegem & Elsy Verhofstadt, 2015. "A good or bad transition from school to work: who is responsible?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(8), pages 1207-1226, November.
    4. Claudia Olivetti & Eleonora Patacchini & Yves Zenou, 2020. "Mothers, Peers, and Gender-Role Identity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 266-301.
    5. Paul Gregg & John Jerrim & Lindsey Macmillan & Nikki Shure, 2017. "Children in jobless households across Europe: Evidence on the association with medium- and long-term outcomes," DoQSS Working Papers 17-05, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    6. Alessandra Fogli & Raquel Fernandez, 2009. "Culture: An Empirical Investigation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 146-177, January.
    7. Wouter Zwysen, 2015. "The effects of father’s worklessness on young adults in the UK," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Morrill, Thayer, 2013. "Intergenerational links in female labor force participation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 38-47.
    9. Fernández, Raquel, 2007. "Women, Work and Culture," CEPR Discussion Papers 6153, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Paul Gregg & Lindsay Macmillan & Bilal Nasim, 2012. "The Impact of Fathers’ Job Loss during the 1980s Recession on their Child’s Educational Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 12/288, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    11. Lindsey Macmillan, 2014. "Intergenerational worklessness in the UK and the role of local labour markets," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 871-889.
    12. Tyra Ekhaugen, 2009. "Extracting the causal component from the intergenerational correlation in unemployment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 22(1), pages 97-113, January.
    13. Rebecca Pearse & Raewyn Connell, 2016. "Gender Norms and the Economy: Insights from Social Research," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 30-53, January.
    14. Christine Erhel & Mathilde Guergoat-Larivière, 2013. "Labor Market Regimes, Family Policies, and Women's Behavior in the EU," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 76-109, October.
    15. David W. Johnston & Stefanie Schurer & Michael A. Shields, 2014. "Maternal gender role attitudes, human capital investment, and labour supply of sons and daughters," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 631-659.
    16. Inmaculada García-Mainar & José Alberto Molina & Víctor M. Montuenga, 2011. "Gender Differences in Childcare: Time Allocation in Five European Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 119-150, January.
    17. Raquel Fernández, 2007. "Alfred Marshall Lecture Women, Work, and Culture," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(2-3), pages 305-332, 04-05.
    18. Paul Gregg & Lindsey Macmillan & Bilal Nasim, 2012. "The Impact of Fathers' Job Loss during the Recession of the 1980s on their Children's Educational Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 237-264, June.
    19. Juan Carlos Campaña & Jose Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina, 2018. "Gender Norms and the Gendered Distribution of Total Work in Latin American Households," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 35-62, January.
    20. Lindsey Macmillan, 2013. "The role of non-cognitive and cognitive skills, behavioural and educational outcomes in accounting for the intergenerational transmission of worklessness," DoQSS Working Papers 13-01, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    21. Bina Agarwal, 1997. "''Bargaining'' and Gender Relations: Within and Beyond the Household," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1-51.
    22. Raquel Fernández & Alessandra Fogli & Claudia Olivetti, 2004. "Mothers and Sons: Preference Formation and Female Labor Force Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1249-1299.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Claudia Olivetti & Eleonora Patacchini & Yves Zenou, 2020. "Mothers, Peers, and Gender-Role Identity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 266-301.
    2. Barigozzi, Francesca & Cremer, Helmuth & Roeder, Kerstin, 2018. "Women's career choices, social norms and child care policies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 162-173.
    3. Cavapozzi, Danilo & Francesconi, Marco & Nicoletti, Cheti, 2021. "The impact of gender role norms on mothers’ labor supply," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 113-134.
    4. Gabriella Berloffa & Eleonora Matteazzi & Paola Villa, 2016. "Family background and youth labour market outcomes across Europe," Working Papers 393, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Francesconi, Marco & Nicoletti, Cheti & Cavapozzi, Danilo, 2021. "The Impact of Gender Role Norms on Mothers’ Labor Supply," CEPR Discussion Papers 15957, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Short- vs Long-Term Intergenerational Correlations of Employment and Self-Employment in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 12933, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Jessen, Jonas, 2022. "Culture, children and couple gender inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Mireia Borrell-Porta & Joan Costa-Font & Julia Philipp, 2019. "The ‘mighty girl’ effect: does parenting daughters alter attitudes towards gender norms?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 71(1), pages 25-46.
    9. Cavapozzi, Danilo & Francesconi, Marco & Nicoletti, Cheti, 2024. "Dividing Housework between Partners: Individual Preferences and Social Norms," IZA Discussion Papers 17370, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Bredtmann, Julia & Otten, Sebastian, 2025. "Natives’ gender norms and the labor market integration of female immigrants," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    11. Mine Durman-Aslan, 2020. "Female Labor Force Participation in Turkey: The Role of the Intergenerational Links," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-02900982, HAL.
    12. Machado, Matilde & Carro, Jesus & Mora, Ricardo, 2014. "Transmission of preferences and beliefs about female labor market participation: direct evidence on the role of mothers," CEPR Discussion Papers 10218, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. De Paola, Maria & Lombardo, Rosetta & Pupo, Valeria & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2021. "Do Women Shy Away from Public Speaking? A Field Experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    14. Huichao Du & Yun Xiao & Liqiu Zhao, 2021. "Education and gender role attitudes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 475-513, April.
    15. Evangelia Papapetrou & Pinelopi Tsalaporta, 2017. "Is there a case for intergenerational transmission of female labour force participation and educational attainment? Evidence from Greece during the crisis," Working Papers 223, Bank of Greece.
    16. Chhaochharia, Vidhi & Du, Mengqiao & Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra, 2022. "Counter-stereotypical female role models and women’s occupational choices☆," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 501-523.
    17. Ye, Bing & Zhao, Yucong, 2018. "Women hold up half the sky? Gender identity and the wife's labor market performance in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 116-141.
    18. Simon Rabaté & Sara Rellstab, 2022. "What Determines the Child Penalty in the Netherlands? The Role of Policy and Norms," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 195-229, May.
    19. Victor Gay, 2017. "The Legacy of the Missing Men: The Long-Run Impact of World War I on Female Labor Force Participation," 2017 Papers pga905, Job Market Papers.
    20. Manuela Stranges, 2022. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Female Labour Force Participation by Gender among Native and Immigrant Europeans: A Focus on Religion," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 774-798, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    young adults’ worklessness; mothers’ employment; intergenerational correlation; gender norms; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:trn:utwprg:2019/14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: roberto.gabriele@unitn.it (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/detreit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.