Labour force transitions around first childbirth in the Netherlands

This study analyses labour market transitions of women in the time around first childbirth. Two employment decisions are considered: exiting the labour force and a reduction in work hours. We assess change in these transitions in the Netherlands between 1970 and 2008. We test whether policy changes, in particular the introduction of unpaid parental leave, have changed the opportunity costs of specific work-family arrangements for women and their partners. We use detailed life-history couple data and estimate multinomial logit models. Our results show that over time, new mothers became less lik... Mehr ...