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Wo(men) at Work?: The Impact of Cohabiting and Married Partners' Earning on Women's Work Hours

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  • Doreen Triebe

Abstract

This study investigates the determinants of women's labor supply in the household context. The main focus is on the effect of a change in male partner's wages on women's work hours. This is linked to the broader question of whether married and cohabiting women make different economic decisions and respond differently to changes in their partners' wages. In addition, this study seeks to connect the working behavior of married and cohabiting individuals to the "tax-splitting" benefit for married couples. To provide a complete picture of working behavior within households, I analyze both women and men using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) from 1993 to 2010. The methodology for the main analysis relies on fixed effects regression. The main estimation results suggest that married women work less on the labor market and further, an increase in partner's wages results in a negative and significant effect on married women's work hours. The maritalstatus of men, on the other hand, has no significant impact on their work hours.

Suggested Citation

  • Doreen Triebe, 2013. "Wo(men) at Work?: The Impact of Cohabiting and Married Partners' Earning on Women's Work Hours," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 614, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp614
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    Cited by:

    1. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde & Irene van Staveren, 2018. "Does Age Exacerbate the Gender-Wage Gap? New Method and Evidence From Germany, 1984–2014," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 108-130, October.
    2. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde & Irene van Staveren, 2015. "Differences in the Estimates of Gender Wage Gap Over The Life Cycle," Working Papers 2015-29, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Women's work hours; division of labor; cohabitation vs. marriage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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