IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/dem/wpaper/wp-2004-030.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Employment after childbearing: a comparative study of Italy and Norway

Author

Listed:
  • Magdalena M. Muszynska

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

In this study we look at the circumstances under which motherhood and employment are compatible. Comparing two countries, Italy and Norway, we analyze the impact of macro factors and individual characteristics on employment decisions of first- and second-time mothers. Our results show that in Norway, where flexible forms of employment are a popular way to reconcile family life and employment, not only many women start to work when their child is small, but the fertility is also relatively high. In Italy, characterized by high rigidities of the labor market and where flexible forms of employment are hardly available, relatively few mothers enter employment and fertility is low. In addition, we found that in both countries better educated women and women with more work experience return to their jobs relatively soon after childbirth. The majority of women with a low level of education and who did not work before the childbirth do not take up work when the child is small.

Suggested Citation

  • Magdalena M. Muszynska, 2004. "Employment after childbearing: a comparative study of Italy and Norway," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2004-030, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2004-030
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2004-030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2004-030.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2004-030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paula Adam, 1996. "Mothers in an insider-outsider economy: The puzzle of Spain," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(3), pages 301-323.
    2. Mincer, Jacob & Polachek, Solomon, 1974. "Family Investment in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(2), pages 76-108, Part II, .
    3. Hotz, V Joseph & Miller, Robert A, 1988. "An Empirical Analysis of Life Cycle Fertility and Female Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(1), pages 91-118, January.
    4. C. Katharina Spiess & Jan Ondrich & Qing Yang, 1996. "Barefoot and in a German kitchen: Federal parental leave and benefit policy and the return to work after childbirth in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(3), pages 247-266.
    5. Aart C. Liefbroer & Martine Corijn, 1999. "Who, What, Where, and When? Specifying the Impact of Educational Attainment and Labour Force Participation on Family Formation," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 45-75, March.
    6. Dankmeyer, Ben, 1996. "Long Run Opportunity-Costs of Children According to Education of the Mother in the Netherlands," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(3), pages 349-361, August.
    7. Elina Pylkkänen & Nina Smith, 2003. "Career Interruptions Due to Parental Leave: A Comparative Study of Denmark and Sweden," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 1, OECD Publishing.
    8. Desai, Sonalde & Linda J., Waite, 1991. "Women's employment during pregnancy and after the first birth: Occupational characteristics and work commitment," MPRA Paper 111172, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Pedro Mira & Namkee Ahn, 2002. "A note on the changing relationship between fertility and female employment rates in developed countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(4), pages 667-682.
    10. Paula Adam, "undated". "Mothers in an Insider-Outsider Economy. The Puzzle of Spain," Working Papers 95, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    11. Kea Tijdens, 2002. "Gender Roles and Labor Use Strategies: Women's Part-Time Work in the European Union," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 71-99.
    12. Adam, Paula, 1996. "Mothers in an Insider-Outsider Economy: The Puzzle of Spain," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(3), pages 301-323, August.
    13. Daniela Del Boca & Marilena Locatelli & Silvia Pasqua, 2000. "Employment Decisions of Married Women: Evidence and Explanations," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 14(1), pages 35-52, March.
    14. Dex, Shirley, et al, 1998. "Women's Employment Transitions around Child Bearing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(1), pages 79-98, February.
    15. Even, William E, 1987. "Career Interruptions Following Childbirth," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(2), pages 255-277, April.
    16. Marit Rønsen & Marianne Sundström, 2002. "Family Policy and After-Birth Employment Among New Mothers – A Comparison of Finland, Norway and Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 121-152, June.
    17. Shirley Dex & Heather Joshi & Susan Macran & Andrew McCulloch, 1998. "Women's Employment Transitions Around Childbearing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(1), pages 79-98, February.
    18. Di Tommaso, Maria Laura, 1999. "A Trivariate Model of Participation, Fertility and Wages: The Italian Case," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(5), pages 623-640, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bünning, Mareike, 2017. "The association between social support networks and maternal employment: a comparison of western German, eastern German, and migrant mothers of preschool-aged children," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 20(3), pages 273-291.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Grimm & Noël Bonneuil, 2001. "Labour Market Participation of French Women over the Life Cycle, 1935–1990," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 235-260, September.
    2. Gutiérrez-Domènech, Maria, 2002. "Employment penalty after motherhood in Spain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20068, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Maria Gutierrez-Domenech, 2003. "Employment After Motherhood: A European Comparison," CEP Discussion Papers dp0567, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Gutiérrez-Domènech, Maria, 2003. "Employment after motherhood: a European comparison," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20046, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Maria Gutierrez-Domenech, 2002. "Employment Penalty After Motherhood In Spain," CEP Discussion Papers dp0546, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Alícia Adserà, 2004. "Changing fertility rates in developed countries. The impact of labor market institutions," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 17(1), pages 17-43, February.
    7. Alicia Adsera, 2011. "Where Are the Babies? Labor Market Conditions and Fertility in Europe [Où sont les bébés ? Conditions du marché du travail et fécondité en Europe]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 1-32, February.
    8. Daniela Del Boca & Silvia Pasqua & Chiara Pronzato, 2004. "Employment and Fertility Decisions in Italy, France and the U.K," CHILD Working Papers wp08_04, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.
    9. Louise Grogan, 2006. "An Economic Examination of the Post-Transition Fertility Decline in Russia," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 363-397.
    10. Alfonso Alba Ramírez & Gema Alvarez Llorente, 2004. "Actividad laboral de la mujer en torno al nacimiento de un hijo," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 28(3), pages 429-460, September.
    11. Alba, Alfonso & Álvarez Llorente, Gema, 2001. "La actividad laboral de la mujer en el entorno del nacimiento de un hijo," DE - Documentos de Trabajo. Economía. DE de010401, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    12. Anna Matysiak & Dorota Węziak-Białowolska, 2016. "Country-Specific Conditions for Work and Family Reconciliation: An Attempt at Quantification," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 475-510, October.
    13. Joanna Osiñska, 2013. "Postawy wzglêdem euro i ich determinanty– przegl¹d badañ i literatury przedmiotu," Working Papers 70, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.
    14. Del Boca, Daniela & Pasqua, Silvia & Pronzato, Chiara D., 2004. "Why Are Fertility and Women's Employment Rates So Low in Italy? Lessons from France and the U.K," IZA Discussion Papers 1274, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Jérôme De Henau & Danièle Meulders & Sile Padraigin O'Dorchai, 2006. "The comparative effectiveness of public policies to fight motherhood-induced employment penalties and decreasing fertility in the former EU-15," DULBEA Working Papers 0026, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Adsera, Alicia, 2005. "Differences in Desired and Actual Fertility: An Economic Analysis of the Spanish Case," IZA Discussion Papers 1584, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2011. "The part-time pay penalty in a segmented labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 591-606, October.
    18. Del Boca, Daniela & Locatelli, Marilena, 2006. "The Determinants of Motherhood and Work Status: A Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 2414, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Alfonso R. Sanchez Martín & Virginia SanchezMarcos, 2010. "Demographic Change and Pension Reform in Spain: An Assessment in a Two-Earner, OLG Model," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 31(3), pages 405-452, September.
    20. Pablo Brañas-Garza & Shoshana Neuman, 2007. "Parental religiosity and daughters’ fertility: the case of Catholics in southern Europe," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 305-327, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Italy; Norway; female employment; fertility; working life;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2004-030. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Wilhelm (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.