Microsoft Word Socialized Choices 31-12 pod docx

Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers 
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done on adolescents’ peer groups (e.g. Biddle, Bank and Marlin,  1980). For 
adolescents, it is widely recognised that peer relationships or peer group pressures 
have consequences for emotional adjustment, school achievement and risk-taking 
behaviours (Biddle, Bank, and Marlin 1980; Carter, Bennetts and Carter, 2003; 
Windle, 1994). However, there are only a few studies on the outcomes of this 
process among adult peer groups. 
Some social-psychological studies have shown that someone’s labour market 
behaviour can be modified by the behaviour of important people in his or her 
environment. Kapteyn and Woittiez (1986), for example, demonstrated the 
existence of a so called ‘bandwagon effect’ among Dutch women in a social 
group. This effect refers to the fact that if a member of a social group enters the 
labour market, his or her entrance motivates other members of the same social 
group to join the labour market as well. This theory corresponds with sociological 
notions of role models (Bandura, 1977). A role model can be an inspiring and 
motivating person, someone from whom one can learn, providing a script for 
behaviour in particular contexts (Sealy and Singh, 2009). Portegijs et al. (2008b) 
has found a significant impact on the participation level of mothers if other 
mothers in their environment work or make use of formal childcare. Also Blaffer 
Hrdy (2000) concluded that the expectations that mothers have of their own lives 
are based on their own ideas and on the ideas of how it should be by others. 
However, one should realise that in general people choose friends with similar 
ideas, attitudes, interests or characteristics as themselves. Or, as Brown et al. 
(1993) argue, people do not haphazardly fall into one crowd or another; 
similarities are prevalent a priori to relationships. Thus, although I primarily 
investigate how peers influence mothers’ attitudes and decisions about 
employment, I readily concede that this influence must be considered to be a two 
directional relationship. 
Supervisors and colleagues 
The influence of supervisors and colleagues on gender attitudes of mothers can be 
important as well. Previous research has shown, for example, that a supervisor 
can encourage or discourage a woman’s work attitudes and ambitions (Estes, 
2005; Moen and Yu, 2000). Work motivation and investments can be enhanced 
by a supervisor and by organizational support (Karatepe and Kilic, 2007). 
However, women’s ambitions, especially those of mothers, seem to be often 
neglected or underestimated by their supervisors (King, 2008, p.1703); as a 
consequence, women receive smaller investments in training than men (Ostroff 
and Atwater, 2003). 
To recap, the four hypotheses addressed in this study are: 
 
 

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Chapter 2 - Theoretical framework and hypotheses 
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1.  A mother’s labour market behaviour is based on her preferred number of 
work hours. 
2.  A mother’s preferred number of work hours is influenced by her general 
gender values and by her personal gender and work attitudes. 
3.  A mother’s gender values and gender and work attitudes are influenced by 
parental socialization during childhood. 
4.  A mother endorses more egalitarian values and attitudes if she has 
perceived the professional and career support of significant others. 
The hypotheses are visualised in Figure 2. 
 
Figure 2. Visualised hypotheses 
 

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Chapter 3 
A qualitative typology of Dutch mothers’ employment narratives
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3.1 Introduction 
In all western societies, women’s employment levels vary much more than those 
of the male population. This is particularly clear in the case of Dutch women, 
specifically of Dutch mothers. In 2010, 32.4 per cent of Dutch mothers with at 
least one child living at home below 18 years old were not in paid work, 42.5 per 
cent worked 12 to 24 hours a week, 13.8 per cent worked 25 to 35 hours a week, 
and 11.3 per cent worked more than 35 hours per week (Central Bureau of 
Statistics, Statline 2011). This relatively large variation, with mothers 
predominantly working part-time, makes the Netherlands an interesting case 
through which to study the different explanations for mothers’ labour market 
participation. Why do some mothers have a full-time job, while most mothers 
work part-time or are not employed at all?  
3.2 
Brief historical overview of Dutch female employment patterns 
Historically, Dutch female labour market activity, especially among married 
women, was particularly low. In 1960, 25 per cent of women (Tijdens, 2006), and 
7 per cent of married women were employed, compared to 30 per cent of English 
and 33 per cent of French married women (Kloek, 2009). Various explanations 
for the low female participation level after World War II in the Netherlands have 
been acknowledged, such as the long and strong cultural tradition of housewives 
(Kloek, 2009), late industrialisation and introduction of wage labour (Pott-Buter, 
1993), Dutch neutrality during the First World War (when women were not 
needed in the labour market), Dutch religious characteristics, high birth rates and 
Dutch prosperity (Kremer, 2007).  
In 1985, women’s participation levels increased to 35 per cent (Tijdens, 
2006), and this rise continued in the subsequent decades, resulting in one of the 
highest levels of female participation compared to other western countries - 
almost 70 per cent in 2011 (OECD, 2013). However, the number of hours women 
work is lower and more dispersed than in other countries, especially among 
mothers. 
Dutch scholars have pointed out several explanations for the predominantly 
part-time pattern in The Netherlands. In the period 1990 to 2000, since female 
                                                           
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  This chapter is based on a paper that has been submitted to a blind peer-reviewed journal. 

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