Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers
160
of a partner towards a mother’s career is related to more egalitarian gender values
(beta .191). The same applies to stimulating people at work (colleagues and
bosses) (beta .313).
6.7
Mothers who work in order to become economically
independent
Within the full model I can also examine which control and socializing factors
correspond with a mother’s adherence to economic independence. Parental
messages have a profound relationship. This counts most, and for all, for the
transmitted message that one should work in order to become economically
independent (beta .520). The parental message “caring for others is important”
has the opposite effect - if a mother mainly received this message when young,
her own adherence to economic independence is smaller (beta -.120). Cohabiting
mothers are less attached to economic independence compared to single mothers.
The labour market participation of her own mother during childhood also exerts a
positive influence on a mother’s adherence to economic independence.
6.8
Mothers who like to work
Of the sample, 38 per cent of the mothers agreed with this proposition, when
choosing choose three out of eleven possible values. Remarkably, only 5 percent
of the mothers claimed that their parents had transmitted this value. This change
in attitude towards work between parents and their daughters shows that certain
work attitudes gain importance over time, while others lose meaning. For
example, the value “a good education is important” is less important for current
mothers than for their parents (as perceived by their daughters). This might
indicate that nowadays the notion
of a good education is trivial, and that others
values have become more important. The presence of a partner and the career
support of her partner are positively related to this work value. Mother’s job
satisfaction therefore appears to be considerably associated with the presence and
support of partner. It is possible that the financial necessity of work for single
mothers might lower their pleasure at work. Mothers who have received the
parental message that work is above all fun, enjoy their work significantly more
than mothers who did not receive this message (beta .461).
Chapter 6 - Intermezzo: the full model
161
Table 21. Standardized total effects of the structural path analysis of seven dependent
variables.
Dependent variables
Work
Work
Hours
Work
preference
Ideal family
life
1.
Education .111
.235
.163
.181
2.
Number of
children
-.068
-.076
-.100
3.
Partner present
-.055
-.062
-.081
-.325
4.
Income partner
-.565
5.
No income
-.775
6.
Age 1.683
.958
2.479
1.375
7.
Age squared / 100
-1.739
-.994
-2.562
-1.319
8.
Religiousness -.025
-.078
-.036
-.064
9.
Work preference
.679
.765
10. Ideal family life
.157
.177
.232
11. Gender values
.147
.166
.217
.381
12. I like to work
.091
.103
.135
13. Adherence to economic
independence
.094 .105
.138
14. Respondent’s mother had paid work
.178
.201
.262
.147
15. Respondent’s mothers’ educational
level
.015 .017
.022
.039
16. Work oriented mother
.023
.026
.034
17. Message parents: Work is above all
fun
.042 .048
.062
18. Message parents: Caring for others
is
important
-.033 -.038
-.049
-.141
19. Message parents: You should work
for economic independence
.049 .055
.072
20. Motivated by teacher
.029
.032
.042
.182
21. Motivated by partner
.037
.042
.055
.073
22. Motivated by supervisors and
colleagues
.080 .090
.118
.336
Source: Amos analysis of merged data from questionnaires: ‘Politics and Values’, ‘Work and
Schooling’, ‘Women and their social environment’, Liss Panel, Centerdata, University of Tilburg,
November 2010.
Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers
162
Table 21 (continued). Standardized total effects of the structural path analysis of
seven dependent variables.
General
gender
values
Economic
independe
nce
I like to
work
1.
Education .230
2.
Number of children
3.
Partner present
-.203
.167
4.
Income partner
5.
No income
6.
Age 1.360
.948
7.
Age squared / 100
-1.298
-.961
8.
Religiousness -.167
9.
Work preference
10. Ideal family life
11. Gender values
12. I like to work
13. Adherence to economic independence
14. Respondent’s mother had paid work
.110
15. Respondent’s mothers’ educational level
.103
16. Message parents, work is fun
.461
17. Work-oriented mother
18. Message parents, caring for others is important
-.120
19. Message parents, work for economic independence
.520
20. Motivated
by teacher
21. Motivated by partner
.191
.099
22. Motivated by supervisors and colleagues
.313
Source: Amos analysis of merged data from questionnaires: ‘Politics and Values’, ‘Work and
Schooling’, ‘Women and their social environment’, Liss Panel, Centerdata, University of Tilburg,
November 2010.
6.9 Conclusions
Table 21 shows the standardized total effects, which indicate how the attitudinal
and socializing factors indirectly correlate with the labour market decisions of
Dutch mothers, mediated by the variable work preference. The values and
attitudes underlying work preferences seem to originate
at least partly in
childhood, and are significantly related to mother’s perceived support of
significant others later in life. The results involve that a mother’s work
preference, gender values and her gender and work attitudes seem to exhibit some
stability over the course of her life. The correlation of a mother’s work
preferences with various attitudinal factors originating in childhood, also sheds
light on the explaination of why societies’ policies and laws work out differently
for each mother. The perception of what is expected by others significantly
differs among mothers, as does their evaluation and appraisal of what is desired
and possible within circumstantial needs.
In summary, the results underline that a
mother’s work preference represents what she likes, what she conceives as
possible, and what she perceives as being expected of her to do by others, and can
act as a predictor of her labour market behaviour.