Mothers, peers and gender-role identity

Arbeitspapier

We study whether a woman's labor supply as a young adult is shaped by the work behavior of her adolescent peers' mothers. Using detailed information on a sample of U.S. teenagers who are followed over time, we find that labor force participation of high school peers' mothers affects adult women's labor force participation, above and beyond the effect of their own mothers. The analysis suggests that women who were exposed to a larger number of working mothers during adolescence are less likely to feel that work interferes with family responsibilities. This perception, in turn, is important for whether they work when they have children.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IFN Working Paper ; No. 1295

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply ; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
• Subject: Role models ; Identity ; Female labor supply ; Peer effects ; Work-family conflict

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Olivetti, Claudia ; Patacchini, Eleonora ; Zenou, Yves
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
• (where): Stockholm
• (when): 2019

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/210936
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET