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The Division of Labor by New Parents: Does Child Gender Matter?

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Author Info
Shelly Lundberg () (University of Washington and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

This paper documents some distinct and surprising patterns of specialization among new parents in the NLSY79. Child gender has significant effects on the labor supply of both mothers and father, and these effects are opposite at the two ends of the education spectrum - boys reduce specialization among the college-educated and increase specialization among parents with less than a high school education. Estimates from the recent American Time Use Survey are generally consistent with the NLSY79 findings, and indicate that highlyeducated parents devote more childcare time to young sons. The labor supply results are inconsistent with previous research that found boys substantially increase the work hours of their fathers relative to girls but have no effect on mother’s work hours. Possible explanations for the heterogeneous responses to sons and daughters across education groups include a bias towards same-sex parental inputs as desired child quality increases and child gender effects on the relative bargaining power of the mother and father. No evidence of improved maternal bargaining power can be found in the leisure consumption of mothers of young sons in the ATUS, but patterns in parental childcare time suggest gender differences in child production functions.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1787.

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Length: 36 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2005
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1787

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Related research
Keywords: child gender; parenthood; labor supply; time allocation; specialization;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

This item is featured on the following reading lists:
  1. Papers and articles using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS)
References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Becker, Gary S, 1985. "Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages S33-58, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Lundberg, Shelly & Rose, Elaina, 2000. "Parenthood and the earnings of married men and women," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 689-710, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Shelly Lundberg & Sara McLanahan & Elaina Rose, . "Child Gender and Father Involvement in Fragile Families," Working Papers UWEC-2003-17-R, University of Washington, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Deborah J. Anderson & Melissa Binder & Kate Krause, 2002. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: Which Mothers Pay It and Why?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 354-358, May. [Downloadable!]
  5. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2002. "The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women's Career and Marriage Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(4), pages 730-770, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Shelly Lundberg, 2005. "Sons, Daughters, and Parental Behaviour," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 340-356, Autumn.
  7. Mette Ejrnæs & Astrid Kunze, 2004. "Wage Dips and Drops around First Birth," CAM Working Papers 2004-01, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Applied Microeconometrics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Gray, Jeffrey S, 1998. "Divorce-Law Changes, Household Bargaining, and Married Women's Labor Supply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 628-42, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Galor, Oded & Weil, David N, 1996. "The Gender Gap, Fertility, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 374-87, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Matthew J. Baker & Joyce P. Jacobsen, 2003. "Marriage, Specialization, and the Gender Division of Labor," Departmental Working Papers 1, United States Naval Academy Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Hadfield, Gillian K., 1999. "A coordination model of the sexual division of labor," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 125-153, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Basu, Kaushik, 2001. "Gender and Say: A Model of Household Behavior with Endogenously-Determined Balance of Power," Working Papers 01-01, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Martha J Bailey, 2006. "More Power to the Pill: The Impact of Contraceptive Freedom on Women's Life Cycle Labor Supply," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 121(1), pages 289-320, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Steinar Vagstad, 2001. "On private incentives to acquire household production skills," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 301-312. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Bridget G. Hiedemann & Jutta M. Joesch, 2002. "The demand for nonrelative child care among families with infants and toddlers: A double-hurdle approach," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 495-526. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Raquel Fernández & Alessandra Fogli & Claudia Olivetti, 2004. "Mothers and Sons: Preference Formation and Female Labor Force Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(4), pages 1249-1299, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Lommerud, Kjell Erik, 1989. "Marital Division of Labor with Risk of Divorce: The Role of "Voice" Enforcement of Contracts," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(1), pages 113-27, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  19. Becker, Gary S, 1973. "A Theory of Marriage: Part I," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(4), pages 813-46, July-Aug.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  20. Pierre-Andre Chiappori & Bernard Fortin & Guy Lacroix, 2002. "Marriage Market, Divorce Legislation, and Household Labor Supply," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(1), pages 37-72, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  21. Gordon B. Dahl & Enrico Moretti, 2004. "The Demand for Sons: Evidence from Divorce, Fertility, and Shotgun Marriage," NBER Working Papers 10281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Jeremy Greenwood & Ananth Seshadri & Mehmet Yorukoglu, 2003. "Engines of Liberation," RCER Working Papers 503, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  23. Shelly Lundberg & Elaina Rose, 2002. "The Effects Of Sons And Daughters On Men'S Labor Supply And Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 251-268, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  24. Hyung-Jai Choi & Jutta M. Joesch & Shelly Lundberg, 2005. "Work and Family: Marriage, Children, Child Gender and the Work Hours and Earnings of West German Men," IZA Discussion Papers 1761, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  25. Engineer, Merwan & Welling, Linda, 1999. "Human capital, true love, and gender roles: is sex destiny?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 155-178, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. McElroy, Marjorie B & Horney, Mary Jean, 1981. "Nash-Bargained Household Decisions: Toward a Generalization of the Theory of Demand," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 22(2), pages 333-49, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  27. Waldfogel, Jane, 1998. "The Family Gap for Young Women in the United States and Britain: Can Maternity Leave Make a Difference?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(3), pages 505-45, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  28. Apps, Patricia & Rees, Ray, 2001. "Household production, full consumption and the costs of children," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(6), pages 621-648, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Andrew Leigh, 2009. "Does child gender affect marital status? Evidence from Australia," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 351-366, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Hyung-Jai Choi & Jutta M. Joesch & Shelly Lundberg, 2005. "Work and Family: Marriage, Children, Child Gender and the Work Hours and Earnings of West German Men," IZA Discussion Papers 1761, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Laura Giuliano, . "The Demand for Sons or the Demand for Fathers? Understanding the Effects of Child Gender on Divorce Rates," Working Papers 0724, University of Miami, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. AbdelRahmen El Lahga & Nicolas Moreau, 2007. "The Effects of Marriage on Couples’ Allocation of Time Between Market and Non-Market Hours," IZA Discussion Papers 2619, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Andrew Leigh, 2006. "Does Child Gender Affect Marital Status?," CEPR Discussion Papers 526, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
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