Co-resident and absent mothers: Motherhood and labour force participation in South Africa

Dorrit Posel and van der Stoep Gabrielle
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Gabrielle Wills

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The effects of motherhood on women's labour force participation are estimated usually for mothers who are co-resident with their children. This paper, however, shows that a co-residency requirement upwardly biases the negative effects of motherhood in a country where labour force participation includes (temporary) migration to places of employment. In contrast to co-resident mothers in South Africa, not co-resident mothers are significantly more likely to be labour force participants. The selection on co-residency, which excludes mothers who are labour migrants, therefore overestimates the negative relationship between motherhood and labour force participation. We find also that women who are not biological mothers are significantly less likely to be labour force participants if they live in households with children, consistent with the foster age of children in extended households.

Keywords: Labour Force Participation; Mothers; Childbearing; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-08-28
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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