Is there a relationship between labor force participation and woman's decision
to have a family? How has this relationship changed over the past generations?
What factors affected this change? Can women be both a breadwinner and a
housewife? Should external entities, such as government, help women achieve
this dual role? Ultimately, can today's women really have it all? This paper
delves into these issues as it tries to analyze the relationship between
labor force participation and the decision to have a family and children.
The research and analysis surrounding this relationship has been varied.
Past theoretical and empirical evidence has shown a potential connection
between career and family. However, these assertions have been dependent
on many other factors and in many cases the correlation is not totally clear.
Using previous studies which investigate this relationship, this paper concludes
that in fact women can have both a career and family though it is not necessarily
an easy achievement.
This paper is divided into five sections. The first section will present
general information about five cohorts of women and their preferences in
terms of work-life balance and what factors throughout the years have affected
this balance. The second section will take a deeper look at the definitions
of family and career and how these alternate definitions can help increase
the percentage of present college aged women's ability to achieve both a
work-life balance. The third section will take a deeper look at a study
that provides empirical evidence that provides information about the specific
relationship between and the decision of labor force participation of married
females in Spain. The last section summarizes the paper.
The Five Cohorts
Intense analysis of female college graduates over the course of the twentieth
century has shown that there is indeed been change in the career and family
balance. This shifting in behavior can be associated with each generation
learning from the successes and frustrations of the government that preceded
them. In general, each generation slowly helped release the barriers and
constraints placed on creating a work-family balance (Goldin, 15).
The similarity in experiences of women during each generation results in
the division of the past century into five distinct cohorts (Goldin, 2).
These cohorts are representative of women who graduated from college at
the start of the twentieth century to those women who matriculated to college
in the 1980s. The first cohort, who graduated from college between 1900
and the end of World War I, made a distinct choice between having a family
and having children (Goldin, 4). Due to the societal constraints on these
women, they were forced to make a choice and could not simply have both
a family and a career. Ultimately, this choice led to both low fertility
rates, fifty percent of this cohort did not have children, and low labor
force participation, which was twenty percent (Goldin, 4).
The second cohort, who graduated from college during the time period in
between the end World War I and the end World War II, was seen as a transitional
generation. This cohort looked to have a job and then have a family (Goldin,
2). Built on the frustrations of Cohort 1, Cohort 2 had both a decrease
in marriage rates, between fifteen and twenty percent never married, and
an increase in fertility rates, thirty to thirty-five percent of women never
had children. Further, twenty-five percent of married women aged 30 participated
in the labor force (Goldin, 5).
The third cohort graduated during the baby boom era, beginning at the end
of World War II and ending in the mid-1960s, and chose family first and
jobs second (Goldin, 2). This pattern of "family then jobs" resulted
from both a post-World War II sentiments and the need to begin a family.
Only seventeen percent of the cohort remained childless. Though this cohort
put emphasis on family first, as they aged Cohort 3 began to enter labor
force at a higher rate (Goldin, 6). Due to the little ability for career
advancement, this late entry into the labor force caused much frustration
of the women in Cohort 3 (Goldin, 7).
The fourth cohort, known as the baby boom generation, matriculated to college
during the 1960s and early 1970s (Goldin, 7). Unlike the preceding cohorts,
the women in Cohort 4 focused on career first then family (Goldin, 3). At
age thirty, sixty-five percent of women in Cohort 4 were in the labor force.
This increased to eighty percent when the women were aged forty-five. Further,
women moved from teaching to a large variety of other professional careers
(Goldin, 7). On the family front, only twelve percent of the cohort remained
single, however, twenty-eight percent of the women remained childless by
their forties. Ultimately, only thirteen to eighteen percent of Cohort 4
achieved both careers and families by the age of 40 (Goldin, 8).
Lastly, the fifth cohort, who graduated from college in the 1980s, was heavily
influenced by the past generations attempt at family and career. Seeing
that the previous efforts had lead to childlessness or dissatisfaction with
career, Cohort 5 worked towards the "fast track" and achieve both
family and career together (Goldin, 8). Only twenty-six percent of Cohort
5 remained childless and eighty percent of these young, married women participated
in the labor force. Ultimately, between twenty-one and twenty seven percent
of Cohort 5 achieved both career and family simultaneously. Therefore, relative
to the previous generational cohorts, Cohort 5 generally succeeded in having
a family while having a career (Goldin, 8).
So why did the balance of family and career change so much over the generations?
The main factors that helped Cohort 5 succeed on the "fast track"
were threefold. First, the growth of white collar jobs and the increased
ability of women to hold professional positions helped loosen the constraints
on a woman's ability to pursue a career (Goldin, 14). Similarly, an increase
in majors, for women, that were relevant to entry in the labor market, as
well as, an increase in women's enrollment into professional schools helped
further loosen the career constraints of women in earlier cohorts (Goldin,
14). Further, changes in women's personal lives also affected this balance,
especially contraceptives, such as the birth control, which helped delayed
childbirth (Goldin, 15).
New Definitions, Higher Percentages
While earlier studies are conclusive, other research has shown that expanding
or changing the definitions used for career and family can provide a higher
percentage of women who achieve both simultaneously. Further, level of education,
race, and age also play a part in dissecting this relationship (Ferber,
145). For example, examining an older cohort would result in a stronger
relationship because in present generations it is possible for older women
to have children, a career, or both.
As stated, the definitions of career and family if changed can have a significant
impact on the results of the work-life balance. In past studies family has
been defined as a woman who has given birth to one child (Ferber, 147).
This definition, however, excludes two or more individuals who live together
and are related through some sort of means. By including other family members
along with children the definition of family is widened ultimately resulting
in a percentage increase in the relationship (Ferber, 147). Further, the
definition used in past studies characterizes a woman's career as an occupation
in which a woman must make at least as much as men in the twenty-fifth percentile
with comparable qualifications (Ferber, 147). First, this definition suggests
that only women working fulltime in executive, managerial, or professions
careers should be considered. Thereby, including women in high-status positions,
normally older women, along with the white college graduates will increase
the percentage of women who achieve the work life balance (Ferber, 147).
Further, the past study also does not include African American's in the
cohort. Both the widening of the definition of career and the inclusion
of African Americans would result in an increase in the percentage of women
in Cohort 5 that achieved both family and career (Ferber, 148). Specifically,
the percentage would increase to forty-four percent of women were able to
have both families and careers.
The Career-Family Balance: The Spanish Example
Many socioeconomic studies have analyzed the link between the effects fertility
has had on women's participation in the workforce. These past studies have
shown a negative correlation between fertility and female labor force participation.
These results are due the restraints having a child imposes on woman and
her ability to work towards a career (de la Rica, 154). The Spanish example
is no different; a woman's decision regarding whether or not to participate
in the labor market is changed by having a child. Specifically, participation
in the labor force is thirty-nine percent lower for women with children
(de la Rica, 168). However, this relationship of fertility to participation
is dependent on the educational levels of the women. The higher the education
levels the stronger the negative effect fertility has on labor force participation.
Women with higher education levels tend to hold jobs that are both time
intensive and demanding; therefore, achieving both family and career is
much more difficult (de la Rica, 168). Contrastingly, females with lower
education levels will generally hold less demanding jobs and therefore fertility
will have a weaker effect on their labor force participation (de la Rica,
168). Further, the effects fertility will have on a female's labor force
participation are dependent on the extents of her past participation (de
la Rica, 169). If a woman held a career then the introduction of a new born
will impose significant lifestyle changes and may result in their exiting
the labor market. Therefore there is statistically significant evidence
which shows fertility will have a negative effect on the labor market participation
of married females in Spain. In light of this evidence, researchers suggest
that governments consider this negative trend and design a policy to help
mother make labor force participation and fertility more harmonious (de
la Rica, 170).
Conclusion
Therefore, over the last century a woman's ability to balance a family and
a career has changed significantly, from the domesticity of the early 1900s
to the simultaneous occurrence of family and career of the 1980s and 1990s.
Though there has been an improvement in a woman's ability to balance family
and career, the example produced in Spain still shows that fertility has
a strong, negative effect on a woman's labor force participation.
Through the enacting a federal policy, governments could help women achieve
the necessary balance between career and family. A policy of this sort would
not only help women with their goals, it would also help in demonstrating
that the labor force is willing and encouraging of a woman's participation.
Further, equal opportunity laws could help level the playing field between
men and women. Lastly, by allowing women, especially mothers participate
in the labor force; the onus of being the breadwinners is inadvertently
removed from the male. Therefore, though the process is not easy, it is,
ultimately, feasible for women to have both a career and a family and, in
turn, "have it all".
Goldin, Claudia, (2004), "The Long Road to the Fast Track: Career and Family", NBER Working Paper 10331.
Ferber, Marianne A.; Green, Carole A. (2003), "Career or Family: What
Choices Do College Women Have? ", Journal of Labor Research
v24, n1 (Winter 2003): 143-151.
de la Rica, Sara; Ferrero, M. Dolores (2003), "The Effect of Fertility
on Labour Force Participation: The Spanish Evidence", in Spanish
Economic Review v5, n2 (June 2003): 153-172. (Omit pp. 162-165.)