Working Women in Europe : How the Country, Workplace, and Family Context Matter

Gender inequalities on the labor market differ between European countries. This study investigates possible explanations for the variation in Europe in women’s working hours, income, their likelihood of holding an authority position, and their occupational status. Applying a macro-micro design allows to link context specific explanations to individual-level explanations, broadening our understanding of how country, family, and workplace characteristics affect women’s labor market involvement and their career outcomes. The results show that family-friendly state policies in European countries influence mothers’ labor market involvement and career outcomes. Some are positive (e.g. publicly funded childcare) and others negative (e.g. cash benefits to the family) for mothers’ working hours and occupational status. Moreover, women have more equal opportunities to hold an authority position in comparison to their male counterparts in countries where part-time work is highly available, but only when they work full time. The results further show that the relevance of the workplace and family context depends on certain country characteristics. In more affluent countries, the male partner’s resources are less beneficial for women’s career outcomes. In less affluent countries, on the other hand, the need for an additional income appears to encourage the female partner to use her male partner’s resources for her own career advancement. Economic necessity works against specialization. Moreover, when women become mothers, they are less likely to switch to occupations with worse career prospects if the state encourages women’s integration of work and care by means of expenditure on day care. In addition, mothers only benefit from flexible workplace arrangements for their opportunities to work longer hours when publicly funded child care is readily available. This implies that the country and workplace context have a complementary or even reinforcing relationship as possible sources of support for women’s labor market involvement and career outcomes.