Child Sleep and Maternal Labour Market Outcomes

Arbeitspapier

We show that sleep deprivation exerts strong negative effects on mothers' labour market performance. To isolate exogenous variations in maternal sleep, we exploit unique variations in child sleep disruption using a UK panel dataset that follows mother-child pairs through time. We find that sleeping one hour less per night on average significantly decreases maternal labour force participation, the number of hours worked, and household income. We identify one mechanism driving the effects, namely the influence of maternal sleep on selection into full-time versus part-time work. Increased schedule flexibility for mothers with sufficient tenure mitigates the negative effects of sleep deprivation.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 11755

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply ; Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health ; Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
• Subject: child sleep ; sleep ; maternal employment ; working hours ; workplace flexibility ; ALSPAC

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Costa-Font, Joan ; Flèche, Sarah
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/185215
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET