Effects of Early Life Family Events on Women’s Late Life Labour Market Behaviour: An Analysis of the Relationship between Childbearing and Retirement in Western Germany

Karsten Hank ()
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Karsten Hank: Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA), Postal: Amalienstr. 33, D-80799 Munich

No 4047, MEA discussion paper series from Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy

Abstract: The relationship between a woman’s reproductive history and her entry into retirement is not well-investigated yet. Will mothers exit the workforce earlier than childless women (as they have a weaker labour market orientation; as they are more likely to have a ‘male breadwinner’ in the household), or will they work longer to make-up for employment interruptions during their reproductive phase? We exploit data from the German Socio-Economic Panel to estimate discrete-time logit models for women’s transition to retirement, using detailed information on the individual’s fertility biography as main explanatory variables. Our primary finding is that having children delays a woman’s exit from the labour force. This effect tends to be stronger for mothers who experienced their first birth relatively late. Postponing fertility and retirement should both be driven by a relatively strong career orientation. Thus, in addition to household economic considerations, the individual’s evaluation of her worker role relative to her family role is likely to be important for her retirement timing.

JEL-codes: Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-05-18
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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