Under Review. Preprint.

Abstract:
 

Objective: This study examines whether higher maternal age benefits cognitive and non-cognitive child development, and tests theory-derived mechanisms underlying this relationship.
 

Background: Rising maternal education and labor market participation have contributed to an increase in maternal age at first birth, linked to improved child abilities in the US. However, for Europe, where demographic dynamics and institutional settings differ, evidence remains limited. Theories of child development, human capital and concepts of maturity, which foster child development through improved learning environments, can explain this link.

Method: This study uses a random probability sample of newborns of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS-SC1; 2012-2021; N=2,387) to examine the relationship between maternal age at birth and cognitive (math, vocabulary) and social-emotional child development up to age nine. Linear regression analyses investigate the main relationship and explore potential mediators (parenting quality, maternal well-being, family resources).
 

Results: Results show statistically significant, inversely U-shaped associations between maternal age at birth and both cognitive and social-emotional development. Enhanced cognitive abilities are largely attributable to family resources and parenting quality. However, differences by maternal age are primarily driven by young mothers up to age 30 and lower educated mothers.

Under Review.

Abstract: Increasing fathers’ involvement in childcare is seen as an important strategy to reduce women’s child penalties in the labour market and address declining fertility rates in high-income countries. However, very little is known about the extent to which family policies can incentivise parents to share the burden of child rearing more equally. This paper examines the impact of universal, highly subsidised childcare provision — one of the most important measures to support mothers in the labour market – on fathers’ involvement across different stages of childhood. For identification, we exploit a major German reform generating large temporal and spatial variation in childcare coverage for children under the age of three, within a policy environment where fathers’ early engagement is incentivised through generous paternal leave provisions. Our generalised difference-in-differences estimations show that expanding universal childcare significantly accelerates children’s entry into childcare and increases fathers’ likelihood of taking paternity leave, in response to mothers’ shorter leave durations and earlier reentry into the labour market. Fathers’ subsequent caregiving roles remain largely unaffected by the expansion of childcare, whereas women exhibit pronounced labour supply responses at both the intensive and extensive margins, alongside modest reductions in fathers’ full-time employment. Overall, increased childcare availability seems to promote a more equal division of parental leave and labour supply; yet the significant policy effort could not substantially alter father’s caregiving responsibilities within the family.

Under Review. IZA Discussion Paper 18039.

Abstract: We assess the gendered effects of having children on well-being, careers, and the division of domestic work. As exogenous variation in parenthood, we exploit the quasi-random success of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments. Children increase mothers’ well-being only in the short term, while fathers experience longer-lasting gains. However, only mothers show a persistent decline in labor supply and a rise in domestic work. Their satisfaction with the division of work declines, and they are more likely to perceive it as unfair, implying that the new equilibrium deviates from mothers’ preferences.

Draft in Preparation.

Abstract: Prior to becoming mothers, women now spend more time in the labour market and in professional activities. This trend continues after childbirth, resulting in a significant shift in family life and early childhood environments. While a large body of literature analyses the consequences of maternal employment on child development, limited attention has been given to the role of pre-birth labour market experience and job characteristics. This study aims to fill this research gap by utilizing rich panel data on child development from the German National Education Panel Study, linked to administrative data on mothers’ employment histories (NEPS-SC1-ADIAB). First, to understand potential mechanisms, we investigate how pre-birth employment characteristics are related to mothers’ re-entry into employment after giving birth. Then, we analyse whether maternal employment conditions and workplace characteristics before childbirth are associated with cognitive and non-cognitive child development over the first ten years of children’s lives. Preliminary results indicate that various firm characteristics are relevant to the length of mothers' employment interruptions. However, at present, we have not found strong evidence suggesting that firm characteristics are linked to children's cognitive or non-cognitive development.

Under Review. Preprint.

Abstract: This study examines the link between maternal occupation-specific skills and child development following mothers’ return to work. We draw on the long-running Newborn Starting Cohort from the German National Education Panel Study, linked with administrative records on mothers’ employment biographies (NEPS-SC1-ADIAB, 2012-2021) and expert-coded occupational task data. Extending previous research providing mixed findings on mathematical and verbal competencies after age 5, we examine cognitive and non-cognitive child development between ages three and nine. Results from OLS-models show small but statistically significant associations between mothers’ highly specialised, analytical job skills and children’s vocabulary scores, while links with math, science, and socio-emotional behaviour were modest. Other types of job tasks showed only small associations with any child outcome. Additional fixed-effects models provide little support that changes in maternal occupations influence child development. Overall, our findings suggest a limited role of occupation-specific skills in the intergenerational transmission of educational inequalities. 

Draft in Preparation

Abstract: European countries increased funding for early childhood education and care (ECEC) to support maternal employment. While research mainly examines how institutional childcare supports maternal employment, knowledge about the simultaneous development of employment and childcare remains incomplete, despite external caregivers being crucial for mothers’ work participation. This study takes a trajectory-based approach to (1) examine how different childcare types and maternal employment are interrelated, and (2) analyze how childcare-work patterns vary by socioeconomic background.

Drawing on the life-course-perspective, we focus on the linked-lives paradigm to explore the interplay between mother’s and children’s life domains. Based on rational cost-benefit-considerations, we argue that advantaged mothers, facing higher opportunity costs of childcare, enter employment and ECEC earlier, while less advantaged mothers delay both. Therefore, we contribute (1) by providing novel evidence on the interplay of maternal employment and childcare histories from a trajectory-based perspective; and (2) we extend previous studies by considering the full range of employment and childcare statuses to deepen the understanding of social realities.

We use a linkage of the newborn-sample of the German National Educational Panel Study and administrative maternal employment trajectories (NEPS-SC1-ADIAB7521; 2012-2017; N≈1,642) to identify childcare-work-patterns conducting multichannel sequence and cluster analysis. We assess monthly information on childcare usage from birth until age five (parents, family, institutions, childminders and combinations) and maternal employment (full-time, part-time or marginal employment, parental leave, unemployment, inactivity). Using multinomial regressions, we identify characteristics predicting cluster affiliation.

Results reveal six childcare-work-trajectories that extend beyond typically expected patterns. Three family-focused-clusters show that lower maternal workforce participation occurs together with long parental childcare and late institutional enrollment. Conversely, three work-focused-clusters involve early employment re-entry, either with institutional childcare alone or with family support and both combinations. Next steps will explore heterogeneity within and between clusters more deeply.