Occurrence and Rise of Unemployment of Women with Pre-School Children: the Case of the Czech Republic

In this study we explore the timing of the return of women with young children to the labour market after the family leave, using the Czech labor force survey data. We document the evolution of the unemployment risk by the age of their child and the mechanism through which mothers with young children become unemployed. Majority of women return to the labor market when their child is 3 years old. The unemployment rate among women with at least a high school diploma reaches 12% and among those with lower education is as high as 28% when their child is three. Women often become unemployed immediately after returning to the labour market. Almost 60% of women without a high school diploma and about 34% of women with higher education become unemployed immediately after the family leave. Moreover, this unemployment is not always just a brief intermission between the end of family leave (or after having returned to their previous employment) and a new job. More than half of women without high school diploma and more than a third of women with higher education are unemployed for more than six months.