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The Employment of Married Mothers in Great Britain, 1974–2000

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  • PAUL GREGG
  • MARIA GUTIÉRREZ‐DOMÈNECH
  • JANE WALDFOGEL

Abstract

This paper analyses the increase in mothers' employment in Britain over 1974–2000 using the General Household Survey. We isolated those birth cohorts whose mothers experienced significant increases in employment and compared those increases to changes in policies. The results suggest that maternity rights have had a profound effect on employment, but this effect varies by the wage opportunities of mothers. Maternity rights have induced a behaviour change in when mothers return to work. Many who previously would not have gone back to work until their children were age 3–5 are now returning to work within the first year. This effect has been most marked among better educated and higher paid mothers.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Gregg & Maria Gutiérrez‐Domènech & Jane Waldfogel, 2007. "The Employment of Married Mothers in Great Britain, 1974–2000," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(296), pages 842-864, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econom:v:74:y:2007:i:296:p:842-864
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0335.2006.00574.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Maria Gutierrez Domenech & Brian Bell, 2004. "Female Labour Force Participation In The UK: Evolving Characteristics Or Changing Behaviour?," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2004 18, Royal Economic Society.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chzhen, Yekaterina & Mumford, Karen A. & Nicodemo, Catia, 2012. "The Gender Pay Gap in the Australian Private Sector: Is Selection Relevant across the Wage Distribution?," IZA Discussion Papers 6558, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Maya Rossin‐Slater & Christopher J. Ruhm & Jane Waldfogel, 2013. "The Effects of California's Paid Family Leave Program on Mothers’ Leave‐Taking and Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 224-245, March.
    3. Yekaterina Chzhen & Karen Mumford & Catia Nicodemo, 2013. "The Gender Pay Gap in the Australian Private Sector: Is Selection Relevant Across the Earnings Distribution?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(286), pages 367-381, September.
    4. Mari, Gabriele & Cutuli, Giorgio, 2018. "Do parental leaves make the motherhood wage penalty worse? Assessing two decades of German reforms," SocArXiv f2nrc, Center for Open Science.
    5. Giovanni Razzu & Carl Singleton & Mark Mitchell, 2020. "On why the gender employment gap in Britain has stalled since the early 1990s," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 476-501, November.
    6. Wendy Sigle, 2008. "England and Wales: Stable fertility and pronounced social status differences," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(15), pages 455-502.
    7. Hanel Barbara & Riphahn Regina T., 2012. "The Employment of Mothers – Recent Developments and their Determinants in East and West Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(2), pages 146-176, April.
    8. Maya Rossin-Slater, 2017. "Maternity and Family Leave Policy," NBER Working Papers 23069, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Razzu, Giovanni & Singleton, Carl & Mitchell, Mark, 2018. "On why gender employment equality in Britain has stalled since the early 1990s," MPRA Paper 87190, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Wen-Jui Han & Christopher Ruhm & Jane Waldfogel & Elizabeth Washbrook, 2009. "Public Policies and Women's Employment after Childbearing," NBER Working Papers 14660, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Joshua D Gottlieb & Richard R Townsend & Ting Xu, 2022. "Does Career Risk Deter Potential Entrepreneurs?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(9), pages 3973-4015.
    12. Benito, Andrew & Bunn, Philip, 2011. "Understanding labour force participation in the United Kingdom," Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Bank of England, vol. 51(1), pages 36-42.
    13. Xavier St‐Denis & Matissa Hollister, 2023. "Two paths towards job instability: Comparing changes in the distribution of job tenure duration in the United Kingdom and Germany, 1984–2014," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 723-751, September.
    14. Ilyana Kuziemko & Jessica Pan & Jenny Shen & Ebonya Washington, 2018. "The Mommy Effect: Do women anticipate the employment effects of motherhood?," Working Papers 2018-6, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    15. Davia, María A. & Legazpe, Nuria, 2012. "Decisiones laborales de las mujeres casadas o cohabitantes en España/Employment Decisions of Married or Cohabiting Women in Spain," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 30, pages 1065(22.)-1, Diciembre.
    16. Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2017. "Maternity and Family Leave Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 10500, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Joyce P. Jacobsen, 2009. "Accommodating Families," Chapters, in: Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt & Seth D. Harris & Orly Lobel (ed.), Labor and Employment Law and Economics, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Gabriele Mari & Giorgio Cutuli, 2019. "Do Parental Leaves Make the Motherhood Wage Penalty Worse? Assessing Two Decades of German Reforms," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1025, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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