Should Mothers Work? How Perceptions of the Social Norm Affect Individual Attitudes Toward Work in the U.S.

Patricia Cortés; Gizem Koşar; Jessica Pan; Basit Zafar

doi:10.1162/rest_a_01541

Should Mothers Work? How Perceptions of the Social Norm Affect Individual Attitudes Toward Work in the U.S.

Patricia Cortés¹; Gizem Koşar²; Jessica Pan³; Basit Zafar⁴

¹ Questrom School of Business, Boston University and NBER [email protected] · ² Federal Reserve Bank of New York and CESIfo [email protected] · ³ National University of Singapore, CEPR, and IZA [email protected] · ⁴ University of Michigan and NBER [email protected]

The Review of Economics and Statistics 2024

Abstract We study how peer beliefs shape individual attitudes toward maternal labor supply using hypothetical scenarios that elicit recommendations on the labor supply choices of a mother with a young child and an information treatment embedded within geographically representative surveys of the US population. Across scenarios, we find that individuals are systematically misinformed about the extent of gender conservativeness of the people around them. Exposure to information on peer beliefs leads to a shift in recommendations, driven largely by information-based belief updating. The information treatment also increases (intended and actual) donations to a non-profit organization advocating for women in the workplace.

DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01541
Pages: 1-28
Language: en
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