Family Policy Outcomes : Combining Institutional and Demographic Explanations of Women's Employment and Earnings Inequality in OECD Countries, 1975-2005

This dissertation addresses how family policies have been effective in shaping inequalities in women’s employment and earnings inequality within and between households. Reconciliation policies resulted in a smaller gap in employment between mothers and women without children, particularly so among higher educated women. Overly long childcare leave, however, reduced mothers' employment. Financial support policies to families with children were shown to result in mothers being less likely to be employed. In addition, we found that women's earnings reduced inequality between households. In countries that facilitate women's employment, with extensive reconciliation policies and limited financial support policies, women's earnings contributed more strongly to reducing earnings inequality between households