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Séminaire d’économie de Bordeaux
Arnaud Philippe
Senior Lecturer à l’Université de Bristol
Motherhood and the cost of interruptions during jobsearch
Abstract: How does having children affect job search behavior? We analyze 400,000 unemployment spells following an involuntary job loss in France. To measure search behavior, we combine administrative data on online job applications and data from a mandatory survey at unemployment registration. We document that for unemployed women, parenthood is associated with sending fewer job applications. To highlight the impact of childcare activities on mothers’ search behavior, we analyze several types of changes in the public provision of childcare. We show that the timing of job applications through the day or through the year mirrors much more closely school periods for mothers. We also estimate that a long-term reform raising children’s school time persistently increased mothers’ applications. We conclude that, on top of policies favoring work-life balance, policies helping mothers in their job search could also help reduce gender inequality on the labor market.