Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers
114
Table 3. Descriptive Statistics variables included in model
N
Min.
Max.
Mean
Std.
Deviation
1. Work yes or no
817
.00
1.00
.740
.439
2. Work hours
605
1.00
45.00
23.780
9.274
3. Preferred work hours
935
.00
45.00
17.704
12.015
4. Level of education
936
1
6
3.73
1.323
5. Attendance to religious gatherings
833
1
7
2.08
1.453
6. Age
935
18
64
43.52
8.337
7. Age2
935
3.24
40.96
19.634
7.289
8. Partner present
935
0
1
.87
.333
9. Partner no income
935
.00
1.00
.081
.273
10. Income partner
842
.00
8.99
6.949
2.251
11. Number of children
935
1
6
1.96
.825
12. Age
of youngest child <4
935
.00
1.00
.236
.425
13. Age of youngest child <8
935
.00
1.00
.258
.438
14. Age of youngest child <12
935
.00
1.00
.218
.413
Personal work attitudes
15. A good education is important.
934
0
1
.44
.496
16. I want to fulfil my full potential.
934
0
1
.25
.434
17. Caring for others is important
934
0
1
.46
.499
18. I like to work.
934
0
1
.38
.485
19. I work to be valued by my social
environment.
934 0 1 .02
.152
20. I only want to do what I really want.
934
0
1
.36
.479
21. Work is above all a means to earn money.
934
0
1
.28
.447
22. I work to be
financially independent of
others.
934 0 1 .30
.459
23. I work to contribute to society.
934
0
1
.10
.300
24. When I do not do paid work. I feel less
worthwhile.
934 0 1 .07
.256
25. I work to make a career.
934
0
1
.02
.130
26. General gender values
834
0
0.80
.506
.1371
27. Ideal family life
930
1.00
3.00
2.40
.694
28. Educational level father.
837
1
5
2.42
1.177
29. Educational level mother
863 1 5 2.03 .996
30. Parental family life
934 1.00 4.00 1.58
.854
31. Did your mother have paid work when you
were twelve years old?
935 .00 1.00 .302
.459
Source: Data from questionnaires: ‘Politics and Values’, ‘Work and Schooling’, ‘Women and their
social environment’, Liss Panel, Centerdata, University of Tilburg, November 2010.
The main dependent variable in the model is a mother’s labour participation. For
both theoretical and empirical reasons this variable
is split in two separate
variables: whether the respondent has paid work or not (the
participation
variable) and the
number of hours per week she works on average when she does
have paid work. The theoretical reason for this distinction is that the decision to
Chapter 4 - The vital and stabilising role of work preferences
115
work may be influenced by factors other than the number of work hours. The
empirical reason is that the distribution of the
number of work hours, including
those who do not work, has a spike at zero hours and a more or less normal
distribution for positive values, which complicates the estimation of the number
of work hours with a linear regression analysis.
The second dependent variable, which also acts as
an explanatory variable of
the first dependent variable, is
the preferred number of work hours. This is
measured by the question: How many hours per week in total would you like to
work?
Independent variables: attitudinal factors
The independent variables include three attitudinal variables. The first
independent variable is a mother’s
general gender values.
The questions used for
this variable are derived from the standard LISS-questionnaire ‘Politics and
Values’ and are similar to questions in the European Values Studies (2009). I
constructed a scale based on seven statements regarding the preferred role of
mothers and fathers, such as ‘a child that is not yet attending school is likely to
suffer the consequences if his or her mother has a job’ and ‘the father should earn
money, while the mother takes care of the household and the family’ (see table 4
for a full list of the statements). The possible answers were: 1. fully disagree, 2.
disagree, 3. neither agree nor disagree, 4. agree, 5. fully agree. A factor analysis
showed that these variables load on one dimension.
By adding the answers to
each of the questions and rescaling, I created a variable ranging from 0 (the most
traditional general gender value) to 1 (the most egalitarian). This scale is highly
reliable (Cronbach’s Alpha 0.781).
Table 4. General gender values: to what extent do you agree with the following
propositions
a
?
N
Mean
Std.
Deviation
1.
A working mother’s relationship with her children can be just as
close and warm as that of a non-working mother
837 3.96 1.103
2.
A child that is not yet attending school
is likely to suffer the
consequences if his or her mother has a job
837 2.49 1.193
3.
Fathers ought to do more in terms of household work than they do
at present
837 3.40 .857
4.
Fathers ought to do more in terms of childcare than they do at
present
837 3.45 .843
5.
The father should earn money, while the mother takes care of the
household
and the family
837 1.95 .891
6.
A woman is more suited to rearing young children than a man
837
2.74
1.056
7.
Overall, family life suffers the consequences if the mother has a
full-time job
837 2.90 1.275
Source: ‘Politics and Values’, University of Tilburg, November 2010.
a
All items range from 1 (fully disagree) to 5 (fully agree), answers on question 1, 3 and 4 are