Occupation and the labour market participation of women: why do some people trade down jobs when careers are interrupted?

Johnes, Geraint (2009) Occupation and the labour market participation of women: why do some people trade down jobs when careers are interrupted? Applied Economics Letters, 16 (11). pp. 1093-1096. ISSN 1350-4851

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Abstract

A dynamic structural discrete choice model of labour market participation, schooling and occupational choice is applied to data for women drawn from the British Cohort Study. It is established that, for relatively highly educated workers, the return attached to childrearing is higher in the part-time non-managerial work regime than in the part-time managerial work regime. As a consequence, following childbirth, many female managers switch to occupations that underutilise their skills.