Women's transitions in the labour market: a competing risks analysis on German panel data

This paper analyses the transitions between the three states of non-employment, part-time and full-time work of a sample of married women living in West Germany. The questions addressed concern the dynamics of women's labour market transitions and the association of the probability of transition with household and individual characteristics. A non-parametric duration analysis shows that women have a similar attachment to full-time and part-time work in terms of survival, and that survival in non-employment is shorter than in the other two states. Estimates of a parametric discrete-time competing risks duration model show that wives of retired husbands go into full-time work, children under 3 years have a disincentive effect on part-time work and that part-time work is a state that German women prefer to stay in and not a first step to full-time employment, whereas foreign women living in West Germany prefer full-time jobs.I thank Rebecca Blank, John F. Ermisch, Siv Gustafsson, John Micklewright, Pravin Trivedi, Jane Waldfogel and two anonymous referees for helpful discussions and comments, and Hans-Peter Blossfeld for providing access to these data through his research project at the European University Institute of Florence. Responsible editors: Siv S. Gustafsson, John F. Ermisch     

Separate taxation and married women's labor supply: a comparison of West Germany and Sweden

This paper uses Swedish and German micro data on wages, hours of work and human capital related variables for German and Swedish couples. When separate taxation was introduced in Sweden in 1971, incentives for married women to supply more labor to the market, was an important argument. A comparison with the behavior of German women, who are confronted with the high marginal taxes of split taxation, is a way of evaluating this policy. Effects of the specific tax systems are incorporated in logit analysis or married women's labor force participation. German and Swedish regressions differ significantly. Children are for example a major detering factor for German women's labor force participation but not for Swedish women.I have received helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper from Wim Groot, Christof Helberger, Notburga Ott, Robert J. Willis, participants at the European Society for Population Economics Conference and referees of the Journal of Population Economics, as well as participants of seminars at the Universities of Amsterdam, Aarhus, Frankfurt and Chicago.     

Women's satisfaction with antenatal care: Comparing women in Sweden and Australia

BackgroundSatisfaction with antenatal care could differ depending on the organisation and the context of care.AimTo compare antenatal care in Australia and Sweden, to identify deficiencies in the content of antenatal care and what aspects contributed most in dissatisfaction with antenatal care.MethodsA longitudinal survey of 123 Australian and 386 Swedish women recruited during one year in regional hospitals in Sweden and Australia. Data collected by three questionnaires.ResultsWomen in Australia had more antenatal visits, less continuity of midwife caregiver but were more satisfied with antenatal education and the emotional aspects of antenatal care. Although the overall satisfaction was high, deficiencies were found in more than half of the studied variables in the content of care. Women in Sweden were more dissatisfied with information about labour and birth (OR 3.1; 1.8–5.3) and information about the time following birth (OR 3.8; 2.2–6.3), but more satisfied with the involvement of the father (OR 0.3; 0.2–0.6). Factors that contributed most to dissatisfaction with antenatal care overall were deficiency in information about pregnancy related issues (OR 3.4; 1.3–8.7) and not being taken seriously by the midwife (OR 4.1; 1.6–10.1).ConclusionSatisfaction with antenatal care was high in both groups of women. Australian women were more satisfied than the Swedish women with the emotional aspects of care. Deficiencies were found in more than half of the variables measured relating to the specific aspects of care. Lack of information and not being treated seriously were important factors for not being satisfied.     

The labor supply of Latinas in the USA: Comparing labor force participation, wages, and hours worked with Anglo and Black women

This study explores the determinants of labor supply patterns among Latinas in the USA. We use recent microeconomic data from the Panel Study on Income Dynamics/Latino National Political Survey (PSID-LNPS) to estimate models of labor force participation, wages, and hours worked for a sample of Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rican women. We estimate the same models for Anglo and Black women in order to explore ethnic differences in the impact of characteristics affecting both the reservation and the market wage. We find that differences exist in the return to characteristics, such as education, but that there are also substantial differences in the levels of those characteristics across ethnic groups. The low wage rates and labor market activity of Latinas relative to Anglo and Black women are thus likely to be the combined result of lower investments in human capital and larger family size, the greater negative impact of macroeconomic conditions, and a stronger responsiveness to wages. Among Latinas, we find that there are differences in labor market outcomes between national origin and nativity groups. We also find that age at arrival and years in the USA play a role in labor supply, and that this is particularly true for Puerto Rican women.     

Gender,Turning Points,and Boomerangs: Returning Home in Young Adulthood in Great Britain

The idea of a generation of young adults “boomeranging” back to the parental home has gained widespread currency in the British popular press. However, there is little empirical research identifying either increasing rates of returning home or the factors associated with this trend. This article addresses this gap in the literature using data from a long-running household panel survey to examine the occurrence and determinants of returning to the parental home. We take advantage of the longitudinal design of the British Household Panel Survey (1991–2008) and situate returning home in the context of other life-course transitions. We demonstrate how turning points in an individual’s life course—such as leaving full-time education, unemployment, or partnership dissolution—are key determinants of returning home. An increasingly unpredictable labor market means that employment cannot be taken for granted following university graduation, and returning home upon completion of higher education is becoming normative. We also find that gender moderates the relationship among partnership dissolution, parenthood, and returning to the parental home, reflecting the differential welfare support in Great Britain for single parents compared with nonresident fathers and childless young adults.     

Towards a Theory of Medium Term Life Satisfaction: Similar Results for Australia,Britain and Germany

We analyse the Life Satisfaction trajectories of respondents in three long-running, national panel surveys: the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia Survey (HILDA), the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Previous research has shown that substantial minorities of respondents in all three countries recorded long term changes in LS (Fujita and Diener in J Personal Soc Psychol 88:158–64, 2005; Headey in Soc Indic Res 76:312–317, 2006; Headey et al. in Proc Natl Acad Sci 107:17922–7926, 2010; Headey et al. Soc Indic Res 112:725–48, 2013). In a recent SIR paper based on the German data (Headey and Muffels in Soc Indic Res, 2015. doi: 10.1007/s11205-015-1146-8), we showed graphs of LS trajectories which suggested—and subsequent statistical analysis confirmed—that respondents typically spend multiple consecutive years above and, in other periods, below their own long term mean level of LS. Here we extend the analysis to Australia and Britain, showing that results replicate in two more Western countries. It appears that most people go through relatively happy periods of life, and relatively unhappy periods. The evidence runs counter to set-point theory which views adult LS as stable, except for short term fluctuations due to life events. In the second half of the paper we try to contribute to a theory of medium term life satisfaction. We estimate structural equation models with two-way causation between LS and variables usually treated as causes of LS, including health, social support, frequency of social activities, and satisfaction with one’s work, partner and family life. In all three countries we find that there are positive feedback loops between these variables and LS, which partly account for extended periods of high or low LS. The two-way causation models are based on a modified concept of ‘Granger-causation’ (Granger in Econometrica 37(3):424–38, 1969). The main intuition behind Granger-causation is that if x can be shown to be statistically significantly related to y in a model which includes multiple lags of y, then it can be inferred that x is one cause of y.     

Barefoot and in a German kitchen: federal parental leave and benefit policy and the return to work after childbirth in Germany

Since 1979 German federal maternity leave and benefit policy has given women incentives to stay at home and take care of their newborn and youngest children. In 1986 this leave and benefit policy was changed in several ways, turning it into a powerful instrument for delaying mothers' return to work after childbirth. Using a flexible duration dependence estimation technique for proportional hazards due to Prentice and Gloeckler (1978) and applied to grouped durations by Meyer (1987, 1990), we estimate post childbirth return to work hazards for women during the federally protected leave protection period and immediately upon completion of this leave period. During the leave mothers are less likely to return to work the longer is the time left in the leave protection period; however, this result cannot be attributed generally to high levels of maternity benefits. When the leave protection period ends, mothers with strong labor force attachment who are still on leave return to their jobs.The second author gratefully acknowledges financial support by the National German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) (Grant No. Wa 547/2-1). The authors would like to thank Richard Burkhauser, Barbara Butrica, John F. Ermisch, Joachim Frick, Siv Gustafsson, Philip Merrigan, Johannes Schwarze, Eileen Trzcinski, Jan-Dirk Vlasblom, Gert Wagner, Sheng Zhu and two anonymous referees for their help and suggestions. Remaining errors are of course, our own. Responsible editors: Siv S. Gustafsson, John F. Ermisch.     

Racial differences in per capita income, 1960–76: The importance of household size,headship, and labor force participation

Racial differences in average per capita income are decomposed, as are changes over time for both races. The 1960–76 decline in household size accounted for 13 percent of the per capita income inprovement of both races. Whereas real increases in earnings of husbands contributed most to improvements in well-being in husband-wife households, increases in income from sources other than earnings were most important to female headed households. During a period in which a growing proportion of both races resided in female headed households and racial differences in living arrangements widened, the per capita income of female headed households relative to husband-wife households declined.     

Population,immigration, and air quality in the USA: a spatial panel study

Population and Environment - The role of population size in environmental degradation is a source of both political and academic debate, with the role of immigrant population being particularly...     

Temporal variation in the relationship between environmental demands and well-being: a panel analysis of developed and less-developed countries

This study assesses the degree to which the relationship between the environmental demands of countries (measured as ecological footprint per capita) and well-being (measured as life expectancy) has changed over the last several decades (1961–2007) and whether the nature and extent of these changes differ between developed and less-developed countries. Pooled ordinary least squares regression results indicate that decoupling has occurred among developed countries, where the relationship between ecological footprint and life expectancy weakened substantially over time, becoming negative in later years. In less-developed countries, the relationship has intensified substantially, with the effect of ecological footprint on life expectancy becoming stronger over time. Fixed-effects regression results provide similar results for developed countries but indicate slight decoupling between increases in ecological footprint and life expectancy among less-developed countries. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of contraction and convergence approaches to sustainability.     

Evaluating the pin money hypothesis: the relationship between women's labour market activity,family income and poverty in Britain

In this paper we evaluate the hypothesis that the over-representation of women amongst the low paid is of little importance because women‘s earnings account for only a small proportion of total family income. Data from the General Household Survey (GHS), together with attitudinal evidence from three cross-sectional data sources, indicate that women‘s earnings are in fact an important and growing component of family income. The majority of the growth in the share of women‘s earnings occurs as a result of changing family labour structures; women‘s earnings are playing an increasingly important role in keeping their families out of poverty. JEL classification: J16; J31. Received April 9, 1996/Accepted August 22, 1996     

Wife or frau,women do worse: A comparison of men and women in the United States and Germany after marital dissolution

Longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the German Socio-Economic Panel show that in the Federal Republic of Germany, women experience even sharper drops in economic status immediately after a marital split than in the United States, while German and American men fare about the same. German social policy does little to reduce the disparities.     

The causal relationship between female labor supply and fertility in the USA: updated evidence via a time series multi-horizon approach

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causality between female labor supply and fertility in the presence of auxiliary variables such as education, female wages, and male relative cohort size. We employ annual time series data spanning the period 1948 to 2007 for both an aggregate and an age-specific group. Our econometric specification follows closely the concepts and procedures proposed by Dufour and Renault (Econometrica 66(5):1099–1125, 1998) and Dufour et al. (J Econom 132:337–362, 2006) in that we conduct multi-horizon causality tests that allow for direct and indirect effects to take place. The sign and economic importance of our results is assessed via the estimation of impulse response functions. Our results establish bidirectional indirect causality between female labor supply and fertility and suggest interesting causal chains among the system variables. Causality effects are stronger for the age-specific group.     

Workers, workers’ productivity and the dependency ratio in Germany: analysis with implications for social policy

Retirement is an inevitable rite of passage. Retirees draw income from savings, pensions, and perhaps benefits from state welfare systems. Their economically productive years behind them, older workers become an important component in an interesting social indicator—the dependency ratio, (D _r). The D _r measures not only the social significance the elderly have in society, but also the potential economic burden placed on productive workers. Problems may arise that ratchet up the dependency ratio and create important policy dilemmas. In Germany, a larger and increasing D _r points toward future social problems. The dependency ratio is an aggregate measure that masks a considerable amount of variation. Two issues related to the dependency ratio have not been addressed at length. The dependency ratio is related to the labor force via the denominator; it might be important to recognize that certain segments of the labor force are disproportionately burdened. Identifying those segments of workers can better inform decision makers about what policies to implement in addressing the dilemmas reflected in a high dependency ratio. The dependency ratio is also related to worker productivity—the greater the worker productivity, the less of an issue is the dependency ratio, regardless of its size. At bottom, the issue is whether those in the labor force are able to support the retired population. This paper examines the relationships between workers, productivity, and the dependency ratio. It concludes by providing some policy recommendations.     

Fertility history, health, and health changes in later life: a panel study of British women and men born 1923-49

We investigated associations between later-life health and fertility history for women and men, using the British Household Panel Survey. We modelled health and its rate of change jointly with sample retention over an 11-year period. For women, childlessness is associated with limitation of activity for health reasons and faster acquisition of the limitation. High parity (four or more children) is associated with poorer health for both women and men. For the parous, this association is also found when age at first birth is controlled. Early parenthood is associated with poorer health. For parents of two or more children, a birth interval of less than 18 months is associated with having a health limitation and an accelerated rate of acquiring it. We conclude that biosocial pathways link parenthood careers and the later-life health of both women and men, and that implications of closely spaced births for parents merit further attention.     

Categorization in concentration camps as a collective fate: a comparison of homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and political prisoners

Using socio-historical data some critical features of Nazi Concentration Camps are discussed: uniqueness vs. normality; extermination vs. re-education of gay prisoners. The special fate of the Pink Triangle in comparison to other non-Jewish victims is demonstrated. The determinative qualities of life and death conditions in the camps are: the National Socialist interpretation of the prisoner category; the repressive content of social control; the marginalisation in general society. The relative strength of a single influence cannot be separated one from the other.     

Experiencing undesired daily life events, instrumental functioning, social support and well-being of Israeli elderly women: comparison between caregivers/non-caregivers for adult children with mental retardation

The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which 160 mothers who care for an adult child with mental retardation differ in respect to undesired daily life events, instrumental functioning, social support and well-being from a comparably matched group of age peers. Findings indicated that caregivers for adult children with mental retardation reported more undesired daily life events in comparison to the matched group. However, no differences were found in respect to their instrumental functioning, social support and well-being. A detailed analysis showed significant variations in measures of undesired daily life events and social support.