Regional government institutions and the capacity for women to reconcile career and motherhood

Giannantoni, Costanza and Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés ORCID: 0000-0002-8041-0856 (2024) Regional government institutions and the capacity for women to reconcile career and motherhood. Journal of Economic Geography. ISSN 1468-2702 (In Press)

Text (Giannantoni and Rodríguez-Pose Journal of Economic Geography 2024 working paper version) - Accepted Version Pending embargo until 1 January 2100. Download (1MB)

Abstract

Declining fertility and the persistent underrepresentation of women in the labour market are key concerns of our time. The fact that they overlap is not fortuitous. Traditionally, women everywhere have faced a conflict in balancing their career ambitions with family responsibilities. Yet, the pressures arising from this conflict vary enormously from one place to another. Existing research has tended to overlook the geographical features of this dilemma, which could result in an inadequate understanding of the issue and lead to ineffective policy responses. This paper examines how variations in the quality of regional institutions affect women’s capacity to reconcile career and motherhood and, consequently, gender equality within Europe. Using panel data from 216 regions across 18 European countries, we uncover a positive effect of regional institutional quality on fertility rates, taking into account variations in female employment. Moreover, we show that European regions with better government quality provide a more reliable environment for managing the career/motherhood dilemma often faced by women. In contrast, women living in regions with weaker government institutions are more constrained in both their career and childbearing options.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Geography & Environment
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J11 - Demographic Trends and Forecasts J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J13 - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, and Changes
Date Deposited:	07 Oct 2024 10:00
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2024 11:39
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/125631

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