Educational Effects on Mothers' Employment in Middle Income Countries

• In Event: 413 - Section on Organizations, Occupations and Work Refereed Roundtable Session. Table 01. Culture and Organizations
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 02. Gender

Abstract

Mothers' employment differs substantially between countries, as well as within them. Policies like maternity leave, childcare, and working time reduction can help mothers remain in paid employment. Higher income dispersion, poverty rates and high childcare costs, on the other hand, will force those mothers with the weakest labor market position out of employment. Previous work has explored these effects in a number of welfare states, but found inconsistent effects. In this paper, I use the IPUMS International dataset containing harmonized variables on women’s employment and family status. I test educational effects on mothers' employment in 23 high and middle-income countries, which significantly broadens the range of countries without extensive welfare arrangements (institutional dimension), as well as income inequality.
I find that in the majority of the countries mothers’ educational qualifications and employment levels are positively related. In four middle income countries, Armenia, Ghana, Indonesia, and Zambia. In these countries, mothers with higher educated spouse are also less likely to work than those with spouse who have equal qualifications, suggesting that mothers opt out of paid employment when they can afford to. The country level analyses show that disadvantaged mothers in countries with better work-life arrangements are on average more likely to be employed than their peers in countries with shorter leaves and longer working hours. In countries with higher portions of the population at risk of poverty or with higher inequality, the middle educational groups were less likely to work, rather than the lowest educated groups.

Author

• Janna Besamusca, University of Amsterdam