Public Attitudes towards Mothers' Part-Time Work: a Survey Experiment on Costs of Reduced Working Hours

Using an online experiment, we study how awareness of the short- and long-term costs of part-time work shifts public attitudes towards mothers working part-time. By randomly providing information about the short-term (earnings) and long-term (pension) costs of part-time work in a two-treatment arms experiment, we find that individuals change their attitudes towards reduced working hours. Namely, respondents receiving information about the pension costs of part-time work are 22 percentage points more likely to suggest longer working hours for a hypothetical job seeking mother as compared to the control group without such cost information. The treatment effect is stronger for individuals with preferences for and experiences with part-time work (e.g., parents and individuals working part-time), and in regions with more conservative gender norms. Given that mothers' working hours are shaped not only by their own attitudes but by broader societal expectations, our findings suggest that low-cost information provision can meaningfully shift and possibly reduce part-time work for mothers.