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Child sleep and mother labour market outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Joan Costa-Font

    (LSE Health and Social Care - LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • Sarah N Flèche

    (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEP - LSE - Centre for Economic Performance - LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science)

Abstract

We show that sleep deprivation exerts strong negative effects on mothers' labour market performance. To isolate variations in maternal sleep, we exploit unique variations in child sleep disruption using a UK panel dataset that follows mother-child pairs through time. We find that sleeping one hour less per night on average significantly decreases maternal labour force participation, the number of hours worked and household income. We identify one mechanism driving the effects, namely the influence of maternal sleep on selection into full-time versus part-time work. Increased schedule flexibility for mothers with sufficient tenure mitigates the negative effects of sleep deprivation.

Suggested Citation

  • Joan Costa-Font & Sarah N Flèche, 2020. "Child sleep and mother labour market outcomes," Post-Print hal-02534271, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02534271
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102258
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://amu.hal.science/hal-02534271
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    Cited by:

    1. Costa-Font, Joan & Fleche, Sarah & Pagan, Ricardo, 2024. "The labour market returns to sleep," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Joan Costa‐Font & Sarah Fleche & Ricardo Pagan, 2024. "The welfare effects of time reallocation: evidence from Daylight Saving Time," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(362), pages 547-568, April.
    3. Joan Costa-Font, 2022. "Incentivizing sleep?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 502-502, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child sleep; Sleep; Maternal employment; Working hours; Workplace flexibility; ALSPAC;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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