Parenthood and labour division in Italian two-earner couples

Abstract

Purpose Lack of robustness of findings characterizes the empirical studies about the effect of the transition to parenthood on partners’ labour division. In this analysis, the purpose of this paper is to solve these problems through the conjoint use of methodological instruments of regression analysis, allowing the authors to correct for the effects of omitted variables. Design/methodology/approach A correction method is here applied to a longitudinal simultaneous equation model. In particular, the authors impose specific constraints on the covariances of the error terms of the longitudinal simultaneous equations of the paid and domestic work of both partners. For the empirical analysis, use is made of the Italian National Institute of Statistics Multipurpose Panel Survey in the years 2003 and 2007 to select a survey sample of dual-earner Italian couples. Findings The authors found that the negative influence of motherhood on the Italian women’s paid work supply is stronger than the positive effect of wage. The authors found that having a child (whatever the order) decreases a woman’s paid work hours by 17 hours a week, while woman’s domestic work increases by 20 hours a week as the effect of the birth of the first child. Originality/value Compared to Fixed Effect or Change-Score models suggested for longitudinal studies the Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equations-Difference-in-Differences procedure let us obtain estimations also for the effect of time-invariant variables. In addition, the methodological approach allows us to correct estimates for the common effects that latent variables exert simultaneously (e.g. the bargaining process) on paid and unpaid work equations of both partners.

Who does not intend to retire? Mothers' opportunity costs and compensation at later ages in Europe

“…Within the family, women retain the primary responsibility for care and household work (Esping-Andersen, 2009; Goldscheider et al , 2015). Consequently, after the arrival of a child, women scale down paid labour (Sanchez and Thomson, 1997; Drobnič et al , 1999; Brewster and Rindfuss, 2000; Vlasblom and Schippers, 2004; van Damme et al , 2009; Campolo et al , 2016). Although work interruption during child-bearing has become less frequent among mothers born after the Second World War (Rubery et al , 1999; Thévenon and Horko, 2009; Hank and Korbmacher, 2013), motherhood is a major cause of the feminisation of part-time work, which allows women to combine paid work with family life (Blossfeld and Hakim, 1997; Gallie and Russell, 2009).…”

A Modified Approach of Valuing Unpaid Household Work in the UK Considering Multitasking and Adjusting for Quality and Productivity.

“…However, compared to the existing time use research in the literature, low R 2 values in this area are quite common. For example, Campolo et al (2016) presented R 2 as low as 3.0%. In addition, even lower R 2 values for regression models, ranging from 0.2% to 2.9%, were published by Baxter (2011), Eriksson andOrtega (2011), andMacDonald (2016).…”