Employed Job Search Among Young Women: The Role of Marriage and Children (original) (raw)

Gender Differences in Employed Job Search: Why Do Women Search Less than Men?

Modern Economy, 2013

Using an extended panel from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, this study explores the impact of marriage and children on the employed job search behavior of young workers. Estimation results from a bivariate probit model of employed job search that accounts for the selective nature of participation and employment demonstrate that both marriage and children significantly reduce the likelihood of on-the-job search for women but not for men. We find that married women with children have an employed search probability that is 18 percentage points below that of single women without children. Moreover, both the age and number of children present in the household are important determining factors for women in the decision to conduct on-the-job search. The inhibiting effect of children, however, is only pronounced for married women; single women with children are no less likely to search than single women without children. * Corresponding author. 1 Mattila [1] is among the earliest to report that the majority of workers who change jobs do so with no spell of unemployment, thus acknowledging the prevalence of employed search. Black [2] and Holzer [3] offer evidence to indicate that employed searchers experience higher wage offers compared to those who quit to search. Black [2] further suggests that the benefits from employed job search even accrue to workers who choose not to change jobs by increasing their bargaining power with current employers. Devine and Kiefer [4] and Keith and McWilliams [5] document the importance of employed job search to successful job mobility and wage growth. 2 Bowlus concludes that between 20 and 30 percent of the US male-female wage gap results from differing search behaviors; Bowlus and Grogan [10] provide similar evidence for the UK. 3 Probabilities are calculated for an unmarried person with 12 years of completed schooling, three years of job tenure with their current employer, working 40 hours per week, with a wage and real family income equal to the sample average, and no children present in the household.

The Gender Division of Labor : A Joint Marriage and Job Search Model

2015

This paper develops a model combining marriage and the job search, including marital bargaining and wage posting. It considers two types of jobs, full-time and part-time, and workers, male and female. After job-worker matching, male and female individuals find one another in the marriage market. This model has multiple equilibria in terms of gender divisions of labor, and the equilibrium market tightness is socially inefficient because of externalities arising from the expected gains from marriage.

Employment Decisions of Married Women: Evidence and Explanations

Labour, 2000

Aggregate evidence has revealed a significant increase in women's labour market participation (especially among married women) and a decline in male participation, both in Italy and in all the other OECD countries. In this paper, we empirically test the relationship between the education and employment status of husbands and wives using the Bank of Italy Survey (1995).

Predictors and outcomes of job search behavior: The moderating effects of gender and family situation

Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2005

This study explored differences in the antecedents and consequences of job search behavior depending on gender and family situation in a large, nationwide sample of the Dutch population. Using Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB), we found no gender differences in the antecedents of job seeking. However, family situation did affect the relations in the TPB, such that personal attitude was a slightly weaker, and perceived social pressure a stronger predictor of job seeking for individuals with families than for singles. Concerning the consequences, job search behavior significantly predicted the chances of finding (new) employment, but not job satisfaction in the new job and the level of agreement between the obtained and wanted job. Job search and gender 3 Predictors and outcomes of job search behavior: The moderating effects of gender and family situation In many Western countries persistent gender differences exist in the context of employment. Labor force participation among women is substantially lower than among men in both Europe (Eurostat, 2002) and the United States (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002). Moreover, in most European countries the unemployment levels among women continue to be higher than among men (Eurostat, 2002). Furthermore, research has often found that women are employed in a narrow range of female-dominated jobs that are generally worse in terms of pay and opportunities for training and advancement than non-female-dominated jobs (Drentea, 1998; Mau & Kopischke, 2001; Mencken & Winfield, 2000). Also in The Netherlands some evident employment-related differences exist between men and women. Unemployment levels among women, for example, are about twice as high as among men (4.7% compared to 2.5%), and the labor force participation is lower among women than among men (53.4% compared to 77.1%; Statistics Netherlands, 2002).

Job Search Methods: Consequences for Gender-Based Earnings Inequality

We extend research on both the job search and gender inequality by examining the effects of various types of job search methods on earnings. Specifically, data from a multistage, area-probability sample of adult residents in three large U.S. cities is used to test (1) whether the types of job search methods used (i.e., “formal” versus “informal”) account for any of the gender gap in earnings and (2) whether the earnings returns to different types of search methods vary by gender. The results indicate that, net of worker characteristics, job search methods account for little of the gender gap in earnings. Thus, the idea that formal search methods play a strong role in reducing this type of gender inequality is not well supported.

Young Children and the Search Costs of Unemployed Females

1996

A structural model of job search with endogenous search decision is estimated from a panel of Candian women who have suffered a perma nent job displacement. The model allows us to estimate child care costs parameters and to infer the effects of young children on the decision to search, on the probability of receiving an offer, on female reservation wages and on female unemployment duration. Finally, the behavioural distinction between single and lone others is also investigated.

Career Plans and Expectations of Young Women and Men: The Earnings Gap and Labor Force Participation

The Journal of Human Resources, 1991

Usijy detail&1 information on the carear plans ar earnirqs expectations of college bosiness school seniors, we test the hypothesis that wcan who plan to work intermittently choose jc2J6 with lower rewards to work experience in return for lower penalties for labor force interruptions. We fir that while nan ar wonn expect similar startir salaries, wcaen anticipate considerably lower earniegs in subsequent years, even urrer the assumption of continucos esploynent after leavir school. While it is also true that wcaen in the sample plan to work fewer years than nan, these differences do not explain the observed gender differences in expected earnins profiles. We also find no evidence that gender differences in expected earnins have any effect on the ntnther of years these sen plan to be in the labor market.