Maternal Labor Supply: What Mothers Say

Abstract

Although children's childcare needs decline as they grow older, mothers' working hours increase only modestly in many countries. This new project studies the labor supply decisions of mothers with younger and older children using almost 300 AI-assisted qualitative interviews with Dutch mothers drawn from a longitudinal household panel. The data allows us to combine rich insights into the considerations underlying their work decisions with existing survey information. We analyze how the factors shaping mothers' labor supply decisions evolve over the life course of their children, how they differ by current working hours and other characteristics, and how they relate to expected future labor supply.

Christian's research interests include labor supply and financial decision of households, with a particular focus on the behavioral foundations underlying these choices. Joint paper with Mareen Bastiaans, Jan Berendsen, and Iris Kesternich.