Dynamics of Women's Employment Patterns over the Family Life Course: A Comparison of the United States and Germany

• Published in: Journal of marriage and family Vol. 61; no. 1; pp. 133 - 146
• Main Authors: Drobnič, Sonja, Blossfeld, Hans-Peter, Rohwer, Götz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden National Council on Family Relations 01.02.1999; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Children; Comparative analysis; Comparative studies; Crosscultural Differences; Employed Women; Employment; Employment Patterns; Families & family life; Family; Family Life; Family relations; Federal Republic of Germany; Full time employment; General studies; Housework; Labor Force Participation; Labor markets; Labour market participation; Life Cycle; Life Stage Transitions; Marital Status; Market entry; Mothers; Part Time Employment; Preschool Children; Salary Wage Differentials; School age children; Sociology; Sociology of the family. Age groups; United States of America; Women; Women's employment; Work and Family; Working life; Working Women; United States Of America; Germany; United States > US; Event History; Woman work; Comparison; Family Life; Part Time
• ISSN: 0022-2445; 1741-3737
• DOI: 10.2307/353889

We use event history analysis to study the effects of family-related factors on the employment behavior of U.S. and (West) German women in a dynamic life course perspective. Data from the National Survey of Families and Households and the German Socioeconomic Panel are analyzed to examine the differential determinants of entry into and exit from full-time and part-time employment during the family life course and the differences in these processes between the two countries. Marriage and childbearing continue to influence exit from and entry into paid work in both countries. Family structure plays a stronger role in women's working lives in Germany than in the U.S., and part-time work in Germany is more closely related to childbearing.