The effects of children on married and lone mothers' employment in the United States and (West) Germany

This study focuses on the effects of children on the labour supply of marri ed and lone mothers in the USA and Germany using individual-level longitudi nal data and event-history analysis. Employment exits and (re-)entries are examined in various stages of the family life cycle in order to assess the impact of children of various ages on their mothers' employment patterns. A nalyses based on the National Survey of Families and Households (USA) and t he Socioeconomic Panel (Germany) show that lone mothers have in general equ al or lower rates of work exits than married mothers, and equal or higher r ates of employment (re-)entries when other factors are controlled. This hig h degree of work activity among lone mothers is often overlooked in debates that focus on the poverty and welfare dependency of lone-mother households . The differences between lone and married mothers are in general considera bly greater in Germany than in the USA. Lone mothers in Germany rely more o n full-time employment than married women, for whom part-time work is an im portant form of reemployment after employment interruptions. Also, in the U SA part-time employment is associated only with married women as a way to r econcile employment and children. Finally, the timing of childbearing emerg es as an important determinant of how women's careers evolve over the life course.