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Child Sleep and Maternal Labour Market Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Costa-Font, Joan

    () (London School of Economics)

  • Flèche, Sarah

    () (CEP, London School of Economics)

Abstract

We show that sleep deprivation exerts strong negative effects on mothers' labour market performance. To isolate exogenous 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

  • Costa-Font, Joan & Flèche, Sarah, 2018. "Child Sleep and Maternal Labour Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 11755, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11755
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child sleep; sleep; maternal employment; working hours; workplace flexibility; ALSPAC;

    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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