Comparing the Labour Market Effects of Childbirth in Ireland, Sweden, the UK and Germany. ESRI WP170. April 2006

Russell, Helen and Halpin, Brendan and Strandh, Mattias and Zielfe, Andrea (2006) Comparing the Labour Market Effects of Childbirth in Ireland, Sweden, the UK and Germany. ESRI WP170. April 2006. [Working Paper]

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Abstract

In this paper we examine the effect of welfare state policy in shaping the impact of childbirth events on labour market outcomes. The paper builds on sociological research on the labour market in Europe over the last ten years which has highlighted the critical role of childbirth and child-rearing in shaping women’s participation patterns and reproducing gender inequalities in employment (e.g. Rubery et al 1999) and earnings (Albrecht et al 1999; Barrett et al, 2000; Waldfogel, 1997) . It also builds on research which has shown that the extent of these effects is strongly influenced by the nature of the welfare regimes operating within countries (e.g. Stier et al. 2001; Gornick et al. 1997, 1998; Esping-Andersen 1999). The paper extends previous longitudinal research in the this area which has outlined the factors that influence the duration of childbirth interruptions in single country studies (Jonsson & Mills, 2001; contributors to Blossfeld & Drobnic, 2001; Russell et al. 2002). It also extends the literature on the effects of duration of breaks on occupational outcomes which has tended to focus on first job after return and is largely restricted to the US and the UK (Macran et al 1996; Waldfogel, 1997a 1997b; but see Ziefle 2004). The comparative longitudinal data used in this paper provide a strong basis for further investigating the important question of the effects of childbirth on women’s labour market careers in different institutional settings.

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