Skip to main content
Log in

Mothers in an insider-outsider economy: The puzzle of Spain

Journal of Population Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There is growing evidence that social policies towards mothers have important effects on their labour market behaviour. This article argues that these effects are less important in a Male Breadwinner Regime if there is employment insecurity in the household or if women intend to participate in the long-run. I consider the case of Spain, where the workforce has become polarized between insiders and outsiders and where social policies closely resemble the Male Breadwinner Regime. The results show that Spanish mothers fall into two groups: those who do not withdraw from the labor force after childbirth and those who withdraw and do not re-enter after their children arrive at school age. Entry or re-entry appears related to the husband's employment uncertainty. Married women in an “insider household” are less likely to be mobile than women in an “outsider household”.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adam P (1995a) Transiciones Laborales de la Mujer Casada: Determinantes de la Movilidad. In: Dolado J, Jimeno JF (eds) Estudios sobre el Functionamiento del Mercado de Trabajo Español. Colecciones FEDEA

  • Adam P (1995b) Women and Work in the OECD: Is Spain Really the Exception? Mimeo, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • Adam P (1996) The Use of the ECPF for Labour Market Research. In: Labour Force Transitions of Married Women in Spain, Doctoral Thesis, European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Chapter 2 (forthcoming)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Albarracin J, Artola C (1989) Oferta y Demanda de Trabajo en el Período 1977–1988. Boletín Económico, Banco de España, July 103–114

  • Amemiya T (1985) Advanced Econometrics, Chapter 11. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Arellano M, Bover O (1995) Female Labour Force Participation in the 1980s: The Case of Spain. Investigaciones Económicas (Segunda Epoca)

  • Bentolila S, Dolado J (1994) Labour Flexibility and Wages: Lessons from Spain. CEMFI Working Paper 9406, Madrid

  • Browning M (1992) Children and Household Economic Behavior. Journal of Economic Literature 30:1439–1475

    Google Scholar 

  • Deaton A, Muellbauer J (1984) Economics and Consumer Behavior, Chapter 11. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene WH (1993) Econometric Analysis, 2nd edn. Macmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson SS, Wetzels C, Vlasblom JD, Dex S (1996) Women's Labor Force Transitions in Connection with Childbirth. A Panel Data Comparison between Germany, Sweden and Great Britain. Journal of Population Economics 9:223–246

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson S, Stafford FP (1994) Three Regimes of Child Care: The United States, the Netherlands and Sweden. In: Blank RM (ed) Social Protection versus Economic Flexibility. Is there a Trade-off? University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman J (1974) Effects of Child-Care Programs on Women's Work Effort. Journal of Political Economy 82 (2, Part II):136–163

    Google Scholar 

  • Jimeno JF, Toharia L (1993) The Effects of Fixed-Term Employment on Wages: Theory and Evidence from Spain. Investigaciones Económicas 17:475–494

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston J (1984) Econometric Methods, 3rd edn. MacGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehrer E, Nerlove M (1986) Female Labour Force Behavior and Fertility in the United States. Annual Review of Sociology 12:181–204

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lindbeck A, Snower D (1988) The Insider-Outsider Theory of Employment and Unemployment. The MIT Press, Cambridge Mass, London (England)

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez M (1994) An Empirical Model of Female Labour Supply for Spain. CEMFI Working Paper 9412

  • Moltó ML, Uriel E (1986) Análisis Bayesiano de la Incidencia del Paro Masculino sobre la Demanda de Empleo Flemenina. Cuadernos Económicos del ICE 34, 1986/3

  • Nakamura A, Nakamura M (1992) The Economics of Female Labor Supply and Children. Econometric Review 11:1–71, 93–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Novales A (1989) La Incorporación de la Mujer en el Mercado de Trabajo en España: Participation y Ocupación. Moneda y Credito, 2nd epoca, 188

  • Novales A, Mateos B (1990) Actividad Económica y Participación Laboral de las Mujeres y los Jóvenes. In: Estudios Sobre Participación Activa, Empleo y Paro en España. Ed. FEDEA

  • OECD (1990) Employment Outlook, Chapter 5.

  • OECD (1994) Women and Structural Change: New Perspectives, Chapter 3. Paris

  • Ondrich J, Spiess CK, Yang Q (1996) Barefoot and in a German Kitchen: Federal Parental Leave and Benefit Policy and the Return to Work After Childbirth in Germany. Journal of Population Economics 9:247–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Revenga A (1994) Aspectos Microeconomicos del Mercado de Trabajo Español. In: Blanchard O, Jimeno JF (ed) El Paro en España: Tiene Solución? CEPR

  • Rönsen M, Sundström M (1996) Maternal Employment in Scandinavia: A Comparison of the After-Birth Employment Activity of Norwegian and Swedish Women. Journal of Population Economics 9:267–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Segura J, Duran F, Toharia L, Bentolila S (1991) Análisis de la Contratación Temporal España. Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Laan L (1995) Gender and Labour Market Participation: an Analysis of Future Developments in the Regions of the European Union. Mimeo Erasmus Centre for Labour Market Analysis, NL

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

This research was initiated with the financial support from the Bank of Spain (Fondo para Estudios sobre el Mercado de Trabajo) and the CIRIT (Generalitat de Catalunya). An earlier version has been published in Spanish in Adam, 1995 a. I benefited from presentations in the session on Women's Labour Force Transitions in the ESPE ninth annual meeting at Lisbon, in the IESA (CSIC, Madrid) seminar, in the session on European Labour Markets in the IEA meeting at Tunis, and in the IGIER seminar. I thank Namkee Ahn, Siv Gustafsson, John Ermisch, Andrea Ichino, Sergi Jiménez, Dennis Snower, Robert Waldmann and an anonymous referee for comments. My very especial thanks go to my thesis supervisor, John Micklewright, to Gosta Esping-Andersen, John Myles and David Soskice. Responsible editors: Siv S. Gustafsson, John F. Ermisch.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Adam, P. Mothers in an insider-outsider economy: The puzzle of Spain. J Popul Econ 9, 301–323 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176690

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176690

JEL classification

Key words

Navigation