Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP1807
Authors: Shoshana Grossbard-Shechtman; Shoshana Neuman
Abstract: This paper examines differences in the labour supply of women of different religions in Israel. We estimate religious differentials in the effect of husband?s income, number of children, education, and age on married women?s labour supply. It is suggested that labour supply patterns of wives from different religious backgrounds may reveal differences in the institutions which different religious groups have established to regulate marriage and divorce. Our results suggest that Christian marital institutions are closer to Jewish marital institutions than they are to Moslem marital institutions. Moslem women appear to be less likely to translate their resources into a higher value of time in marriage than either Christian women or Jewish women. Educated Moslem women seem to have fewer constraints on their marriages than their uneducated counterparts.
Keywords: labour force participation; Israel; marriage; religion
JEL Codes: J12; J15; J21; J22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Husbands' income (J31) | Labor force participation of married women (D13) |
| Number of children (J13) | Labor force participation of married women (D13) |
| Age (J14) | Labor force participation of married women (D13) |
| Religious institutions (Z12) | Labor supply decisions of married women (J22) |
| Religious affiliation (Z12) | Labor force participation of married women (D13) |