WOMEN EMPLOYMENT DURING PREGNANCY AND AFTER THE 1ST BIRTH - OCCUPATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND WORK COMMITMENT

Examines the argument that predominantly female occupations attract women because they are relatively easy to combine with family responsibilities. We test the hypothesis that a woman's response to the characteristics of her occupation and to other factors depends on her preference for employment vs. homemaking over the long run. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the analysis focuses on the period from the year prior to the first birth through the 2 yr following the birth as the time of maximum conflict between employment and child rearing. Occupational characteristics that raise the cost of labor force withdrawal (high education, wages, and job-specific training) tend to decrease the probability of women's withdrawal from work, as do nonmonetary occupational characteristics. All women respond to the cost of labor force withdrawal, but women with low work commitment also respond to financial pressures and convenience of the work setting. -from Authors