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Are mothers of young children more likely to be self-employed? The case of Sweden

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  • Pernilla Andersson Joona

    (Stockholm University)

Abstract

Previous studies, mostly from Anglo-Saxon countries, find a positive correlation between the presence of young children in the household and self-employment probabilities among women. This has been seen as an indication of women with young children choosing self-employment as a way of balancing work and family commitments. This paper studies the relationship between children and female self-employment in a country with family friendly policies and a generous welfare system: Sweden. The initial hypothesis is that we will not find evidence of a positive effect of children on self-employment among Swedish women since there are other institutions in place aiming at facilitating the combination of work and family. Using Swedish register data for the period 2004–2008 we do, however, find that the presence of young children increases the probability of choosing self-employment also among Swedish women. The effect is strongest for women with very young children, 0–3 years of age. These results also hold in a panel data model that takes individual unobserved heterogeneity into account. We also analyze time-use data and find, contrary to what has been found in many other countries, that self-employed women spend more, or as much, time on market work than wage-earning women. This raises doubts about whether women in Sweden chose self-employment as a way of balancing work and family commitments.

Suggested Citation

  • Pernilla Andersson Joona, 2017. "Are mothers of young children more likely to be self-employed? The case of Sweden," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 307-333, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:15:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11150-016-9349-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-016-9349-6
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    3. Pernilla Andersson Joona, 2018. "How does motherhood affect self-employment performance?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 29-54, January.
    4. José Alberto Molina, 2020. "Family and Entrepreneurship: New Empirical and Theoretical Results," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 1-3, March.
    5. Katrin Huber, 2019. "The role of the career costs of children for the effect of public child care on fertility and maternal employment," Working Papers 185, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    6. Lucia Naldi & Massimo Baù & Helene Ahl & Magdalena Markowska, 2021. "Gender (in)equality within the household and business start-up among mothers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 903-918, February.
    7. Wiebke Schmitz & L. Naegele & F. Frerichs & L. Ellwardt, 2023. "Gendered late working life trajectories, family history and welfare regimes: evidence from SHARELIFE," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Magdalena Markowska & Helene Ahl & Lucia Naldi, 2023. "Timeout: The Role of Family-Friendly Policies in Business Start-Up Among Mothers," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(4), pages 1169-1199, July.
    9. Joseph Boniface Ajefu, 2019. "Does having children affect women’s entrepreneurship decision? Evidence from Nigeria," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 843-860, September.
    10. Wei Xiao & Mingqin Wu, 2021. "Life-cycle factors and entrepreneurship: evidence from rural China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 2017-2040, December.
    11. Janna Besamusca, 2020. "The short or long end of the stick? Mothers’ social position and self‐employment status from a comparative perspective," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1285-1307, November.
    12. Reuschke, Darja & Houston, Donald, 2020. "Revisiting the gender gap in commuting through self-employment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    13. Katherine Lim, 2019. "Do American mothers use self-employment as a flexible work alternative?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 805-842, September.
    14. Chizheng Miao, 2020. "Immigrant self‐employment and local unemployment in Sweden," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(3), pages 464-488, June.
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    16. Gonçalves, Judite & Martins, Pedro S., 2019. "Is the future of work childless? Self-employment and fertility," GLO Discussion Paper Series 401, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self-employment; Fertility; Work; Family;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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