The impact of women’s and men’s careers on the family and children

Research project and specific questionsDespite significant progress in the last decades, substantial gender gaps in the labor market remain, with women being underrepresented in high-ranked professional positions and among top income earners.

Recent research suggests that the greater time demands imposed by household and childcare work on women compared to men are a key reason behind the persistent disparities.The goal of this project is to shed new light on the constraints faced by women with children when moving up the professional ladder.

We will investigate the differential impact of positive labor market shocks to men’s and women’s careers on family wellbeing.

We will provide the first causal evidence on how job promotions affect time allocation within the household, the labor responses of the spouse, marital stability, fertility decisions, the wellbeing of parents and children, as well as child development. Of particular interest will be to understand if and how such effects differ for maternal and paternal job promotions.

While promotions are a common event during a person’s working life, we know very little about their effects on the family.

This project will provide the first comprehensive analysis of the causal impact of promotions on family wellbeing.Data and methodWe will combine data from different Swedish administrative registers and use quasi-experimental quantitative methods. We will first document the family responses to men’s and women’s promotions for the general population.

In a second step, we will focus on the specific occupation of school teachers and leverage a natural experiment arising from a policy reform: the gradual introduction of a new rung in teachers´ career ladder.Societal relevance and utilisationThe results from this project will improve our understanding of the choices and constraints faced by families with children, and of how gender norms might mediate families’ responses to changes in their work situation.

This project will contribute to both the research front and the policy debate about the last remaining barriers for a more equal labor market.Plan for project realisationThe team consists of six economists with expertise in topics related to labor markets, gender inequality, health, and education. The team has wide experience conducting similar analyses with administrative data.

The budget mainly covers research time. Given the data-intensive nature of the project, we also seek funding to hire a research assistant.