“We have analyzed the perceived benefits and costs of mothers to work part- or full-time”, says Katja Kaufmann from the EPoS Economic Research Center. “The perceived returns and costs shape the decisions on the amount of hours worked in the job. Our results show that such perceptions are important drivers of decisions.”
Perceived benefits of part-time work
Part-time work of mothers is perceived to have a number of associated benefits compared to staying at home: Women expect to have better future labor market outcomes, such as higher wages or career progression. They also expect a positive effect on children’s skills due to increased family income. Moreover, the satisfaction of different family members is perceived to improve with mothers working part-time.
Perceived costs of full-time work
While a full-time job of mothers is perceived as having further positive effects on labor market and child outcomes, people expect important negative effects for family outcomes, such as the satisfaction of different family members and the relationships between them.
Demographic change and women’s participation in the labor market
However, with the demographic change, the potential of women in the labor market is high on the policy agenda in many countries. Increasing the hours worked by mothers is therefore seen as an important means to counteract the skills shortage.
Policy recommendations
“Policy-makers who aim to make it more attractive for mothers to return to a full-time job, have often overlooked the perceived negative effects on the satisfaction and relationships of different family members”, says Kaufmann. In most OECD countries, a lack of childcare facilities is seen as the main reason for mothers with young children not returning to the job or working part-time. Our results show that childcare does indeed matter. Yet, even with good-quality full-time care, people still think it is difficult to reconcile family life with both parents working full-time. These underlying worries should also be addressed.”
The data
The researchers have surveyed a representative sample of 4,000 childless adults in Germany between the ages of 18 and 45 on beliefs about benefits and costs of maternal labor supply, beliefs about factors such as childcare availability and maternal labor supply intentions. In a separate representative survey of 1,000 individuals with the same target population, the researchers conducted a randomized information experiment to vary people’s beliefs about returns in order to show that beliefs are critical drivers of labor supply intentions.