Socio-Economic Review 2:285-313 (2004)
© Oxford University Press and the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics 2004. All rights reserved.
Single mothers and work
Department of Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Ramón Trias Fargas 25–27, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
Correspondence: libertad.gonzalez{at}upf.edu
Western countries differ greatly in the extent to which single mothers participate in the labour market. Using LIS data for 15 countries, I propose and estimate a simple structural model of labour supply that incorporates the main variables that influence the work decision for single mothers. The results suggest that a large part of the cross-country variation in the employment rates of single mothers can be explained by their different demographic characteristics and by the variation in expected income in the in-work versus out-of-work states. Women with higher expected earnings are more likely to work. Higher in-work benefits encourage employment. Single mothers with higher income from other sources, including child support, are less likely to work. Even after demographic and income variables are controlled for, the country dummies remain significant. This indicates that other variables not explicitly incorporated in the model, such as child care arrangements or social and cultural backgrounds, may also play a relevant role.
Key Words: single mothers • labor supply • JEL classification: J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply (hours of work, part-time employment, work sharing, absenteeism, quits), J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure, I38 Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs