Discussion Papers no. 767

The intergenerational transfer of the employment gender gap

Despite well-documented convergence during the later years of the 20th century, labor market attachment remains markedly higher for men than for women.

Despite well-documented convergence during the later years of the 20th century, labor market attachment remains markedly higher for men than for women. The current paper employs rich longitudinal registry data to investigate the intergenerational transfer of the gender gap in employment. We explore the extent that family- and community-level characteristics, measured in childhood, differentially predict employment for adult Norwegian men and women. Drawing on theories pertaining to the importance of information, skills and gender norms transfer, our empirical analysis demonstrates that a parsimonious set of family- and community-level characteristics can explain a substantial part of the gender gap. These results suggest that female employment continues to be influenced by the intergenerational transfer of beliefs and expectations about family and work.

About the publication

Title

The intergenerational transfer of the employment gender gap

Authors

Venke Furre Haaland, Mari Rege, Kjetil Telle, Mark Votruba

Series and number

Discussion Papers no. 767

Publisher

Statistics Norway

Topic

Discussion Papers

ISSN

0809-733X1892-753X

Number of pages

52

Language

English

About Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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