Children and women’s hours of work
Abstract
The prevalence of women in part‐time work continues to be a distinguishing feature of female employment in Britain. Using data from the BHPS, this article analyses the evolution of work hours for women and men during family formation and development. A substantial movement towards part‐time work for women occurs with the first birth and continues steadily for ten years. The gender gap in hours subsequently diminishes but persists even after children have grown up. Births have little impact on men's hours, although there is some adjustment in the balance of work hours for couples following births and last school entry.
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The transition to parenthood typically involves a substantial reduction in working hours for new mothers.
“At this point it is worth noting that the transition to parenthood typically involves a substantial reduction in working hours for new mothers (Paull, 2008), which can lead to increased pressure on new fathers to become the key earner, perhaps at the cost of reduced family time (Raley et al., 2012).”
From Couples becoming parents: Trajectories for psychological distress and buffering effects of social support (2020) · cites this paper as Paull, 2008
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Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark
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- Authors
- Paull, G.
- Affiliations
- Institute for Fiscal Studies (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Paull, Gillian
- Venue
- The Economic Journal
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-01-17
- Volume
- 118
- Issue
- 526
- Pages
- F8-F27
- ISSN
- 0013-0133 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-0297
- OpenAlex
- W2158006497
- Cited by
- 156
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 31.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Economic Journal (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies
- Keywords
- part-time work, family formation, childbirth, British Household Panel Survey
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