Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 3 No. 1, Part 2 1985
The Emergence of the Working Wife in Holland
Abstract
The rate of participation in the labor force by married women is lower in the Netherlands than in similar industrialized countries. However, since the end of the Second World War the participation rate increased from almost zero to almost one-fourth in less than 35 years. Using estimation results obtained with a probit model on a 1979 nationwide cross-section, this paper tries to reconstruct the postwar growth in this participation rate. It is found in particular that the increase in the real wage for female workers contributes substantially to the explanation of the observed long-run change. Given the relatively high own-wage elasticity, one would also expect Dutch wives to catch up in the future with the level of participation observed in neighboring countries.
- DOI
- 10.1086/298083
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1, Part 2
- Pages
- S235-S255
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref