Is There a Case for Intergenerational Transmission of Female Labour Force Participation and Educational Attainment? Evidence from Greece During the Crisis

Abstract

Using logit regressions techniques for binary response models, fit by maximum likelihood with robust standard errors, the analysis investigates the intergenerational transmission of female labour force participation and the intergenerational transmission of educational outcomes in Greece. To conduct this study, we pioneer in the utilization of a unique dataset, the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) for Greece. Data refer to 2011 when the first elements of the economic adjustment programme were being put into place. Most importantly, the EU-SILC 2011 wave is the latest one to include an ad hoc module on the intergenerational transmission of disadvantages. Results show that a wife’s labour force participation decision is related to her husband’s mother’s and mother’s participation, and even more strongly related to her own level of educational achievement along with the number of children in the household. The labour force participation of the mother of the husband is more important than that of the woman’s own mother, indicating a strong transmission of the husband’s cultural model. Concerning educational attainment, parental educational background, and especially maternal, is identified as a key determinant of women’s high level of educational achievement.

Keywords: labour supply; educational attainment; intergenerational mobility; preferences; Greece

JEL Classification: 22; J62; I21; D10; J21