The Sorting of Female Careers after First Birth: A Competing Risks Analysis of Maternity Leave Duration

39 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2015

See all articles by Melanie Arntz

Melanie Arntz

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Stephan Dlugosz

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Ralf A. Wilke

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Economics; Center for European Economic Research (ZEW); Government of the Federal Republic of Germany - Institute for Employment Research (IAB)

Date Written: December 15, 2014

Abstract

A number of contributions have found evidence for motherhood being a critical life event for women's employment careers. This study presents a detailed model for the duration of maternity leave in which young mothers can make a transition into a number of states related to employment and unemployment among others. The model incorporates a large number of factors including the legal framework, individual and firm characteristics. We provide a comprehensive picture of the sorting mechanisms that lead to the differentiation of women's employment careers after birth. Our empirical evidence is derived from large linked administrative individual labour market data from Germany for a period of three decades. We obtain unprecedented insights how women's skills, the quality of the previous job match, firm level characteristics, labour market conditions and leave legislation are related to the length of maternity duration.

Keywords: work interruptions, cumulative incidence, leave legislation

JEL Classification: J13, J18, C41

Suggested Citation

Arntz, Melanie and Dlugosz, Stephan and Wilke, Ralf A., The Sorting of Female Careers after First Birth: A Competing Risks Analysis of Maternity Leave Duration (December 15, 2014). ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 14-125, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2564014 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2564014

Melanie Arntz (Contact Author)

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1 D-68161 Mannheim
Germany

Stephan Dlugosz

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

Ralf A. Wilke

Copenhagen Business School - Department of Economics ( email )

Solbjerg Plads 3
Frederiksberg C, DK - 2000
Denmark

Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1 D-68161 Mannheim
Germany

Government of the Federal Republic of Germany - Institute for Employment Research (IAB) ( email )

Regensburger Str. 104
Nuremberg, 90478
Germany

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