The impact of the abolition of compulsory service on life satisfaction

Eberl, Andreas; Collischon, Matthias; Jahn, Kerstin

doi:10.1016/j.rssm.2021.100673

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…Establishing similar programs can have individual- and societal-level effects. On the individual-level, they provide men insights into occupational fields that otherwise they might not have considered, which should be situated before labor-market entrances, as otherwise they can be perceived as an interruption to their career (Eberl, Collischon, and Jahn 2022). The estimated effect indicates that such programs come with some opportunity costs, as those who do not utilize learned skills by entering respective occupations forgo the opportunity to acquire skills that are beneficial for their alternative occupational choices.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Becker et al 2011). This is also backed up by a quantitative study by Eberl, Collischon, and Jahn (2022) which revealed that only men who graduated from lower- or intermediate-track secondary school (but not those who graduated from academic-track secondary school) experienced an increase in their life satisfaction following the suspension of compulsory military and civilian service, as this eliminated a major career interruption for them. Yet no study has quantitatively examined the causal effect of participation in the civilian service on occupational choices.…”

Section: The Civilian Service As a Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Gender-Atypical Learning Experiences of Men Reduce Occupational Sex Segregation: Evidence From the Suspension of the Civilian Service in Germany

Hamjediers

2023

Gender & Society

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Occupational sex segregation persists in part because men seldom enter female-dominated occupations. Whereas programs providing women with gender-atypical learning experiences aim to increase female representation in male-dominated domains, similar programs for men—despite their potential to counteract the prevailing lack of men in female-dominated occupations—are rare. In this paper, I investigate whether men’s gender-atypical learning experiences affect their likelihood of entering female-dominated occupations by studying the effect of participation in Germany’s civilian service. The civilian service offered a social-sector alternative to compulsory military service, and its suspension in 2011 induced exogenous variation in men’s gender-atypical learning experiences. Combining register data from Germany’s social security system with data from the German Microcensus shows that men’s likelihood of entering the labor market in female-dominated occupations declined by about 21 percent when the civilian service was suspended. Scaling the estimate by participation in the civilian service indicates that having completed the civilian service increased men’s likelihood of entering female-dominated occupations by about 12 percentage points. This illustrates that programs exposing men to gender-atypical learning experiences can promote occupational integration and could “unstall” the gender revolution.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Civilian Service As a Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 97%