The New Lifecycle of Women's Employment: Disappearing Humps, Sagging Middle, Expanding Tops
November 2016
Working Paper Number:
carra-2016-07
Abstract
The new lifecycle of women's employment is initially high and flat, there is a dip in the middle and a phasing out that is more prolonged than for previous cohorts. The hump is gone, the middle is a bit sagging and the top has greatly expanded. We explore the increase in cumulative work experience for women from the 1930s to the 1970s birth cohorts using the SIPP and the HRS. We investigate the changing labor force impact of a birth event across cohorts and by education and also the impact of taking leave or quitting. We find greatly increased labor force experience across cohorts, far less time out after a birth and greater labor force recovery for those who take paid or unpaid leave. More work experience across the lifecycle is related to the increased employment of women in their older ages.
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:
employment effects,
employ,
employed,
labor,
longitudinal,
recession,
job,
trend,
retirement,
employment wages,
increase employment,
occupation,
decade,
aging,
cohort,
career
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Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,
Current Population Survey,
Survey of Income and Program Participation,
Social Security,
Health and Retirement Study,
PSID,
W-2,
ASEC,
Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement
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