Empowered Mothers, Empowered Generations: The Impact of Women’s Economic Rights

Esther Arenas-Arroyo () and Elisabeth Wurm ()
Additional contact information
Esther Arenas-Arroyo: Vienna University of Economics and Business
Elisabeth Wurm: Central European University
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Esther Arenas-Arroyo

No 18241, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper examines the long-run effects of women’s economic rights on generations exposed to property and earnings acts during childhood. We find that childhood exposure to these reforms reduced the probability of marriage—particularly among women—and increased female labor force participation in adulthood. To explore potential mechanisms, we document several short-run effects among the adult generation contemporaneous to the reforms, including improved occupational standing, reduced fertility, lower child mortality, and increased schooling among children. Taken together, our findings suggest that expanding economic rights for women can shape outcomes across multiple generations, underscoring the enduring importance of legal and institutional reforms that promote women’s economic empowerment.

Keywords: long-run effects; women’s economic rights; intergenerational mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J12 J16 N31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-lab
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp18241.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18241

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().