Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/207420 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12595
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We document a substantial positive correlation of employment status between mothers and their children in the United States, linking data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults. After controlling for ability, education, and wealth, a one-year increase in a mother's employment is associated with six weeks more employment of her child on average. The intergenerational transmission of maternal employment is stronger to daughters than to sons, and it is higher for low-educated and low-income mothers. Potential mechanisms we were able to rule out include networks, occupation-specific human capital and conditions within the local labor market. By contrast, we provide suggestive evidence for a role-model channel through which labor force participation is transmitted.
Subjects: 
intergenerational transmission
preferences for work
female employment
JEL: 
E24
J21
J22
J62
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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