IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/diw/diwwpp/dp1603.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Family Working Time Model - Toward More Gender Equality in Work and Care

Author

Listed:
  • Kai-Uwe Müller
  • Michael Neumann
  • Katharina Wrohlich

Abstract

Since the millennium, the labor market participation of women and mothers is increasing across European countries. Several work/care policy measures underlie this evolution. At the same time, the labor market behavior of men and fathers, as well as their involvement in care work, is relatively unchanging, meaning that employed mothers are facing an increased burden with respect to gainful employment and providing care. We propose a family working time model that incentivizes fathers and mothers to both work in extended part-time employment. It provides a benefit in form of a lumpsum transfer or income replacement for each parent if, and only if, both parents work 30 hours per week. Thus, it explicitly addresses fathers and – contrary to most conventional family policies – actively promotes the dual earner/dual carer paradigm. Combining microsimulation and labor supply estimation, we empirically analyze the potential of the family working time model in the German context. The relatively small share of families already choosing the symmetric distribution of about 30 working hours would increase by 60 per cent. By showing that a lump-sum transfer especially benefits low-income families, we contribute to the debate about redistributive implications of family policies. The basic principles of the model generalize to other European countries where families increasingly desire an equal distribution of employment and care. In order to enhance the impact of such a policy, employers’ norms and workplace culture as well as the supply of high-quality childcare must catch-up with changing workforce preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Kai-Uwe Müller & Michael Neumann & Katharina Wrohlich, 2016. "The Family Working Time Model - Toward More Gender Equality in Work and Care," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1603, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1603
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.541145.de/dp1603.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kai-Uwe Müller & Katharina Wrohlich, 2016. "Two Steps Forward—One Step Back? Evaluating Contradicting Child Care Policies in Germany," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 62(4), pages 672-698.
    2. Geyer, Johannes & Haan, Peter & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2015. "The effects of family policy on maternal labor supply: Combining evidence from a structural model and a quasi-experimental approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 84-98.
    3. Jason Gagnon, 2014. "Demographic change and the future of the labour force in the EU27, other OECD countries and selected large emerging economies," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01510977, HAL.
    4. Blundell, Richard & Macurdy, Thomas, 1999. "Labor supply: A review of alternative approaches," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1559-1695, Elsevier.
    5. George J. Stigler, 1950. "The Development of Utility Theory. I," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(4), pages 307-307.
    6. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1997. "Introducing Household Production in Collective Models of Labor Supply," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 191-209, February.
    7. Mathias Huebener & Kai-Uwe Müller & C. Katharina Spieß & Katharina Wrohlich, 2016. "The Parental Leave Benefit: A Key Family Policy Measure, One Decade Later," DIW Economic Bulletin, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 6(49), pages 571-578.
    8. Nadia Steiber & Barbara Haas, 2015. "Overworked or Underemployed? Actual and Preferred Household Employment Patterns in the Context of the Economic Crisis," VID Working Papers 1507, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    9. Bourguignon, Francois & Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, 1992. "Collective models of household behavior : An introduction," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(2-3), pages 355-364, April.
    10. Arthur van Soest, 1995. "Structural Models of Family Labor Supply: A Discrete Choice Approach," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(1), pages 63-88.
    11. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
    12. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    13. Viktor Steiner & Katharina Wrohlich & Peter Haan & Johannes Geyer, 2012. "Documentation of the Tax-Benefit Microsimulation Model STSM: Version 2012," Data Documentation 63, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. María del Carmen Huerta & Willem Adema & Jennifer Baxter & Wen-Jui Han & Mette Lausten & RaeHyuck Lee & Jane Waldfogel, 2013. "Fathers' Leave, Fathers' Involvement and Child Development: Are They Related? Evidence from Four OECD Countries," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 140, OECD Publishing.
    15. Kai-Uwe Müller & Michael Neumann & Katharina Wrohlich, 2013. "Bessere Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf durch eine neue Lohnersatzleistung bei Familienarbeitszeit," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 80(46), pages 3-11.
    16. Dominique Meurs & Sophie Ponthieux, 2015. "Gender Inequality," Post-Print hal-01410766, HAL.
    17. Kimberly J. Morgan, 2008. "The Political Path to a Dual Earner/Dual Carer Society: Pitfalls and Possibilities," Politics & Society, , vol. 36(3), pages 403-420, September.
    18. Bünning, Mareike & Pollmann-Schult, Matthias, 2016. "Family policies and fathers’ working hours: cross-national differences in the paternal labour supply," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 256-274.
    19. Leslie McCall & Lane Kenworthy, 2007. "Inequality, Public Opinion, and Redistribution," LIS Working papers 459, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Océane Bertrand & Maxime Fontaine & Thomas Hausmann, 2021. "Réduire le temps de travail pour améliorer l’emploi des moins qualifiés ?Une évaluation socio-économique ex-ante du passage à la semaine de 4 jours au sein de l’Agence Bruxelles-Propreté," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/338537, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Ulrike Huemer & Julia Bock-Schappelwein & Ulrike Famira-Mühlberger & Hedwig Lutz & Christine Mayrhuber, 2017. "Österreich 2025 – Arbeitszeitverteilung in Österreich. Analyse und Optionen aus Sicht der Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 59285.
    3. Filip Pertold & Sofiana Sinani & Michal Soltes, 2023. "Gender Gap in Reported Childcare Preferences among Parents," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp770, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fischer, Benjamin & Jessen, Robin & Steiner, Viktor, 2019. "Work incentives and the cost of redistribution via tax-transfer reforms under constrained labor supply," Discussion Papers 2019/10, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    2. Müller, Kai-Uwe & Neumann, Michael & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2018. "Labor Supply under Participation and Hours Constraints: An Extended Structural Model for Policy Evaluations," IZA Discussion Papers 12003, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Robin Jessen, 2019. "Why has Income Inequality in Germany Increased From 2002 to 2011? A Behavioral Microsimulation Decomposition," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(3), pages 540-560, September.
    4. Kai-Uwe Müller & Michael Neumann & Katharina Wrohlich, 2018. "Labor Supply under Participation and Hours Constraints," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1758, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Blundell, Richard & Macurdy, Thomas, 1999. "Labor supply: A review of alternative approaches," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1559-1695, Elsevier.
    6. Robin Jessen & Davud Rostam-Afschar & Viktor Steiner, 2017. "Getting the Poor to Work: Three Welfare-Increasing Reforms for a Busy Germany," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 73(1), pages 1-41, March.
    7. de Boer, Henk-Wim & Jongen, Egbert L. W., 2020. "Analysing Tax-Benefit Reforms in the Netherlands: Using Structural Models and Natural Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 12892, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Geyer, Johannes & Haan, Peter & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2015. "The effects of family policy on maternal labor supply: Combining evidence from a structural model and a quasi-experimental approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 84-98.
    9. Müller, Kai-Uwe, 2014. "Analyzing economic policies that affect supply and demand: a structural model of productivity, labor supply and rationing," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100471, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Thoresen, Thor O. & Vattø, Trine E., 2015. "Validation of the discrete choice labor supply model by methods of the new tax responsiveness literature," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 38-53.
    11. Peichl, Andreas & Schneider, Hilmar & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2010. "Documentation IZA?MOD: The IZA Policy SImulation MODel," IZA Discussion Papers 4865, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Neumann, Michael & Müller, Kai-Uwe & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2014. "Is The Equal Sharing Of Market Work And Family Duties Hampered By Financial Means Or Constraints? Evidence From A Structural Labor Supply Model With Involuntary Unemployment And Hours Constraints," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100390, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Fischer, Benjamin & Jessen, Robin & Steiner, Viktor, 2019. "Work incentives and the efficiency of tax-transfer reforms under constrained labor supply," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203607, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Fossen, Frank M. & König, Johannes, 2015. "Public health insurance and entry into self-employment," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112934, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. van Soest, A.H.O. & Das, J.W.M., 2000. "Family Labor Supply and Proposed Tax Reforms in the Netherlands," Discussion Paper 2000-20, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    16. Bargain, Olivier & Orsini, Kristian, 2006. "In-work policies in Europe: Killing two birds with one stone?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 667-697, December.
    17. Robin Jessen & Davud Rostam-Afschar & Sebastian Schmitz, 2018. "How important is precautionary labour supply?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(3), pages 868-891.
    18. Johannes Geyer & Thorben Korfhage, 2015. "Long‐term Care Insurance and Carers' Labor Supply – A Structural Model," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(9), pages 1178-1191, September.
    19. Jinjing Li & Denisa Maria Sologon, 2014. "A Continuous Labour Supply Model in Microsimulation: A Life-Cycle Modelling Approach with Heterogeneity and Uncertainty Extension," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-15, November.
    20. Löffler, Max & Peichl, Andreas & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2013. "Validating Structural Labor Supply Models," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79819, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    care work; gender equality; family policy; labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1603. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/diwbede.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.