S. Drobnic, The effects of children on married and lone mothers' employment in the United States and (West) Germany, EUR SOCIOL, 16(2), 2000, pp. 137-157
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.