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The parenthood effect: what explains the increase in gender inequality when British couples become parents?

The parenthood effect: what explains the increase in gender inequality when British couples become parents?. Pia Schober London School of Economics. Motivation. Gender inequality in time allocations and wages widen from parenthood

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The parenthood effect: what explains the increase in gender inequality when British couples become parents?

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  1. The parenthood effect: what explains the increase in gender inequality when British couples become parents? Pia Schober London School of Economics

  2. Motivation • Gender inequality in time allocations and wages widen from parenthood • Few studies exploring this transition include changes in paid and domestic work • Most only describe change (Gershuny 2003) or based on small non-representative samples (e.g. Singley and Hynes 2005) • Mostly US evidence What pre-parental factors can explain change in British couples‘ division of labour after becoming parents?

  3. Theories Theories to explain domestic labour division: • Neo-classical economic theory (Becker 1981 etc) • Resource-bargaining approach (Blau 1964; Manser and Brown 1980; Lundberg and Pollak 1996 etc) • Doing gender (West and Fenstermaker 1995) Changing families and heterogeneity in identities: • Identity of growing importance (Giddens 1992; Beck 1992) • Considerable diversity in women‘s work-family preferences or attitudes (Hakim 2000; Wall 2007)

  4. Theoretical framework and hypotheses Extension of rational choice model with sociological identity theory: • Gender role identity affects paid and domestic labour • Maximisation of household‘s private and public goods • Trade-offs between economic and psychological costs and benefits Couple‘s division of childcare, housework and paid work after becoming parents expected to be less traditional: • H1: The higher women’s pre-parental wage rate relative to their partners’ • H2: The more egalitarian women’s gender role identities • H3: The more egalitarian men’s gender role identity

  5. Method and Data • British Household Panel Survey (1992-2005) • Sample of 549 cohabiting couples becoming parents • Women older than 20 years at birth • Focus on 2nd year after birth • Ordered and binary logistic regressions of couples‘ childcare, housework and paid work division • 1/3 missing data imputed through chained equations • Not considered: maternity leave and interdependencies

  6. Dependent variables • Whether mother has main childcare responsibility or father equally or more responsible • Women‘s weekly housework hours as % of couple‘s total in quartile categories • Women‘s weekly paid work hours as % of couple‘s total in quartile categories • Men‘s and women‘s absolute weekly hours in housework and paid work

  7. Change in couples‘ division of labour

  8. Change in paid work and housework hours

  9. Explanatory variables • Couples‘ pre-parental division of housework and paid work • Women‘s and men‘s gender role attitudes • Women‘s hourly earnings as % of couple‘s total • Log of men‘s monthly earnings and women‘s hourly wage rate Controls: • Both partners‘ education, women‘s age, age difference • Relationship duration, marital status at birth • Age and sex of 1st child • Whether will have 2nd child within 3 years • Job dissatisfaction and employment sector • Survey year and region

  10. Results

  11. Results

  12. Results

  13. Summary and conclusion • Gender role identities account for most of the shift towards more traditional division of labour • Relative earnings not significant after accounting for pre-parental division of labour • Women‘s absolute earnings significant for housework division (increasing men‘s housework time) • Partner‘s gender role identity more significant than own identity for total housework time

  14. UK – US comparison: context matters • Greater significance of gender role identities may point to more choice in UK than US • May be due to longer leave and availability of part-time employment • Gendered assumption of maternity/paternity leave policies in UK may discourage non-traditional division of labour even when women earn more • More evidence on associations with individual entitlements and take-up needed

  15. Theoretical framework and hypotheses Extension of rational choice model with sociological identity theory: • Gender role identity affects paid and domestic labour • Maximisation of household‘s private and public goods • Trade-offs between economic and psychological costs and benefits Uw(k, hw, cw, xw) = U(k) − f(Gw)Vw(hw, cw) + xw Um(k, hm, cm, xm) = U(k) − f(Gm)Vm(hm, cm) + xm Couple‘s division of childcare, housework and paid work after becoming parents expected to be less traditional: • H1: The higher women’s pre-parental wage rate relative to their partners’ • H2: The more egalitarian women’s gender role identities • H3: The more egalitarian men’s gender role identity

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