The Employment of Married Mothers in Great Britain: 1974-2000

Paul Gregg, Maria Gutierrez-Domenech and Jane Waldfogel

CEP Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Performance, LSE

Abstract: This paper analyses the increase in mothers¿ employment in Britain over the period 1974¿2000. The approachconsists of isolating those birth cohorts whose mothers experienced significant increases in employment andrelating those to changes in policies (maternity rights, taxation and childcare). The results suggest thatmaternity rights have induced a change in behaviour, toward returning to work in the first year post-birth,among many mothers who would have otherwise gone back to work when their children were age 3 to 5. Thiseffect has been most marked among better-educated and higher paid mothers and has strengthened as real wageshave risen through time. However, the paper also suggests that the increased labour market experience and jobtenure of mothers as a result of maternity rights legislation has only had a very modest impact on earnings. Thisis as a result of most of the extra experience being part-time which has very low returns.

Keywords: married women¿s employment; maternity policies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J10 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-12
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Related works:
Working Paper: The Employment of Married Mothers in Great Britain: 1974 - 2000 (2003)
Journal Article: The Employment of Married Mothers in Great Britain, 1974-2000 (2007)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0596

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