New IZA DPs -- Parents and the Labor Market

[IZA Publications]

Dear Italo Gutierrez,

These new IZA Discussion Papers are now available online.

DP 17995 - El Haj/Dalle/Verhofstadt/Van Ootegem/Baert:
Chances or Choices? How We Think Parenthood Shapes Our Own and Others’ Careers
DP 18004 - Modestino/Finn/Ladge/Lincoln:
Childcare as Infrastructure: The Impact of COVID-19 on Childcare and Gender Equity
DP 18105 - Dachille/De Paola/Nistico:
Guaranteed Minimum Income and Fertility

Please find the abstracts and download links below.

You might also be interested in this IZA World of Labor content:
Female education and its impact on fertili

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IZA DP No. 17995

Morien El Haj, Axana Dalle, Elsy Verhofstadt, Luc Van Ootegem, Stijn Baert:

Chances or Choices? How We Think Parenthood Shapes Our Own and Others’ Careers

Abstract:
This letter contributes to the literature on gender disparities in professional life by exploring how men and women perceive the impact of parenthood on career outcomes. It does so through the lens of perceived employer-given opportunities (‘chances’) and perceived own career-related behaviour (‘choices’). We focus on how employees perceive this impact not only on their own careers but also on those of other parents. To this end, we survey a probability sample of 1,060 employees in Belgium. We find that fathers perceive a less negative impact of parenthood on their own careers than mothers do, in terms of both chances and choices. Additionally, mothers perceive greater career penalties for other mothers than they report for themselves. These insights are valuable in understanding how self-fulfilling prophecies may shape parents’ careers.

https://docs.iza.org/dp17995.pdf

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IZA DP No. 18004

Alicia Sasser Modestino, Zachary Finn, Jamie Ladge, Alisa Lincoln:

Childcare as Infrastructure: The Impact of COVID-19 on Childcare and Gender Equity

Abstract:
Conducting a nationally representative survey of 2,500 working parents between Mother's and Father's Day of 2020, we examine gender differences in the childcare shock during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on demographic, household, and labor market factors, we document gender differences in time use, work status, mental health, job satisfaction, and employer benefits. Using variation in pre-pandemic characteristics to measure exposure to the childcare shock, we find mothers in the more vulnerable group were 15 percentage points more likely to experience a reduction in hours due to childcare than similarly situated fathers. Although paid family leave helped narrow the gap in hours between mothers and fathers in the affected group, newer COVID-19 workplace practices such as working from home and childcare subsidies had no effect.

https://docs.iza.org/dp18004.pdf

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IZA DP No. 18105

Giuseppe Dachille, Maria De Paola, Roberto Nistico:

Guaranteed Minimum Income and Fertility

Abstract:
We study the fertility effects of Italy’s Reddito di Cittadinanza (RdC), a national minimum income program introduced in 2019. Exploiting administrative data from the Italian Social Security Institute and a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, we document that RdC increased recipients’ childbirth probability by 1.5 percentage points (18%) over two years in the South, with no effect in the Centre-North. Labor supply declined by 10%, but only in the Centre-North. Regional heterogeneity reflects differences in gender norms, financial constraints, and opportunity costs of childbearing. Our findings highlight how income transfers interact with local context to shape demographic and labor market behavior.

https://docs.iza.org/dp18105.pdf

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[IZA Publications]