MARRIED WOMEN’S (NON)EMPLOYMENT AND THE INTERPLAY OF HUSBAND’S AND WIFE’S EDUCATION JEWS AND MUSLIMS IN ISRAEL 2001-2008

MARRIED WOMEN’S (NON)EMPLOYMENT

AND THE INTERPLAY OF HUSBAND’S AND WIFE’S

EDUCATION

JEWS AND MUSLIMS IN ISRAEL 2001-2008

VERED KRAUS

HAIFA UNIVERSITY

WOUT ULTEE

RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN

YUVAL YONAY

HAIFA UNIVERSITY

RC 28 HAIFA, MAY 8-11, 2010

THIS PAPER IS ABOUT TWO TABLES

THEY PERTAIN TO ISRAEL IN 2001-2008

AND CONTAIN ALL PERTINENT CASES IN THE ISRAELI LABOUR FORCE SURVEYS FROM 2001 TO 2008

THE FIRST TABLE CROSS-CLASSIFIES FOR JEWISH MARRIED WOMEN AGED 18-54 YEARS WITH THREE

OR MORE CHILDREN

THEIR (NON)EMPLOYMENT AGAINST THEIR LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF

THEIR HUSBAND

THE SECOND TABLE DOES THE SAME FOR MUSLIM WOMEN

WIFEWIFE

LOWLOW MIDDLEMIDDLE HIGHHIGH TOTALTOTAL

HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 3838 6363 8888 5353

MIDDLEMIDDLE 5757 6767 8585 7070

HIGHHIGH 5858 7070 8585 8080

TOTALTOTAL 4141 6565 8585 6262

JEWISH WOMEN, PERCENT EMPLOYED

THE ABSOLUTE N FOT THE 58% HH-WL IS 90, THE LOWEST IN THIS TABLE

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 44 2727 6868 99

MIDDLEMIDDLE 55 2828 7474 2020

HIGHHIGH 1212 4242 8787 5050

TOTALTOTAL 55 2929 7979 1515

MUSLIM WOMEN, PERCENT EMPLOYED

THE ABSOLUTE N FOT THE 68% HL-WH IS 66, THE LOWEST IN BOTH TABLES

THE RESEARCH QUESTION:

EXPLAINING WOMEN’S (NON)EMPLOYMENT

THREE CLASSICAL EXPLANATIONS:

FACTORIAL ‘EXPLANATION’

EXPLANATION FROM ECONOMICS

EXPLANATION FROM SOCIOLOGY

FACTORIAL ‘EXPLANATION’:

WOMAN’S EDUCATION

MARITAL STATUS

NUMBER OF CHILDREN

AGE

PLACE OF RESIDENCE

SOMETIMES INTERACTIONS, MOSTLY WITHOUT SOME GUIDING IDEA

HERE WE ARE CONCERNED WITH INTERACTIONS

WE ASSUME THAT A HIGHER NUMBER OF CHILDREN IS PROHIBITIVE

AND SUPPRESSES OR WEAKENS OTHER EFFECTS

SUCH AS THE POSITIVE EFFECT OF WOMAN’S EDUCATION ON HER CHANCES OF EMPLOYMENT

THAT IS WHY WE MADE TABLES FOR MARRIED WOMEN WITH AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN

A TESTING GROUND FOR ECONOMIC VERSUS SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS:

FEMALE (NON)EMPLOYMENT AS DEPENDING UPON CHARACTISTICS OF HER HUSBAND

BECAUSE OF DISINCENTIVES,

A HUSBAND WITH A HIGHER EDUCATION (AND THEREFORE A HIGHER INCOME)

MAKES FOR LESS EMPLOYMENT

BECAUSE OF SUBCULTURAL NORMS,

A HUSBAND WITH MORE EDUCATION MAKES FOR MORE EMPLOYMENT

THE STANDARD FINDING HERE IS THAT THE ECONOMIC EXPLANATION

DOES NOT HAVE MUCH GOING FOR IT

THE HIGHEST CHANCES FOR MARRIED WOMEN TO BE EMPLOYED

ARE FOUND FOR WOMEN WITH THE HIGHEST EDUCATION

MARRIED TO A MAN WITH THE HIGHEST EDUCATION

THIS FINDING HINTS AT A NORM AMONG THE HIGHLY EDUCATED STIPULATING THAT A MARRIED

WOMAN OUGHT TO WORK

FOR THE NETHERLANDS, BERNASCO ET AL, ESR 1998, SHOWED THAT, AFTER TAKING

WOMEN’S EDUCATION INTO ACCOUNT,

A HIGHER INCOME OF HUSBANDS MAKES FOR HIGHER CHANCES OF BECOMING NON-

EMPLOYED AND LOWER CHANCES OF BECOMING EMPLOYED

AND THAT, INDEPENDENT OF THIS,

A HIGHER EDUCATION OF HUSBANDS MAKES FOR LOWER CHANCES OF

BECOMING NON-EMPLOYED AND HIGHER CHANCES OF BECOMING EMPLOYED

WITH THE POSITIVE EDUCATION EFFECT BEING LARGER THAN THE NEGATIVE

INCOME EFFECT

(NON)EMPLOYMENT OF MARRIED WOMEN WITH CHILDREN IS NORM-GUIDED

BEHAVIOUR

WHOSE NORMS?

THE NORMS OF HUSBANDS WITH A CERTAIN LEVEL OF EDUCATION?

THE NORMS OF WIVES WITH A CERTAIN LEVEL OF EDUCATION?

A WEIGHTED CHOICE BETWEEN THE NORMS OF BOTH HUSBANDS AND WIVES?

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 3030

MIDDLEMIDDLE 5050

HIGHHIGH 7070

TOTALTOTAL

THE REFERENCE POINTS ON THE MAIN DIAGONAL OF AN

ARTIFICIAL TABLE

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 3030 5050 7070

MIDDLEMIDDLE 3030 5050 7070

HIGHHIGH 3030 5050 7070

TOTALTOTAL

ONLY WIFE’S EDUCATION HAS EFFECTS: THE FEMALE INDEPENDENCE MODEL

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 3030 4040 5050


HIGHHIGH 5050 6060 7070

TOTALTOTAL

THE EQUAL WEIGHT MODEL

SOBEL’S DIAGONAL REFERENCE MODELS ALLOW

FOR UNEQUAL WEIGHTS

THEY ARE CALLED DIAGONAL REFERENCE MODELS

BECAUSE PREDICTIONS ARE NOT GENERATED FROM THE

MARGINALS (AS IN ORDINARY LINEAR REGRESSION)

BUT FROM THE MAIN DIAGONAL

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 3838

MIDDLEMIDDLE 6767

HIGHHIGH 8585

TOTALTOTAL 6262

JEWISH WOMEN, REFERENCE POINTS

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 3838 5353 6262


HIGHHIGH 6262 7272 8585

TOTALTOTAL

JEWISH WOMEN, EQUAL WEIGHTS FOR OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 2828 53 53 63 63 6262 88 88

MIDDLEMIDDLE5353 57 57 2828 72 72 8585

HIGHHIGH62 62 5858 7272 70 70 8787

TOTALTOTAL

JEWISH WOMEN, ACTUAL PERCENT IN OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS COMPARED

SO, WEIGHTS ARE NOT EQUAL

AND THE WEIGHTS FOR CELLS ABOVE THE MAIN DIAGONAL DIFFER FROM CELLS BELOW THE MAIN DIAGONAL

FOR JEWISH WOMEN,

THE HIGHER A WIFE’S EDUCATION, THE WEAKER THE EFFECT OF HUSBAND’S

EDUCATION:

38-57-58

63-67-70

88-85-85

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 44

MIDDLEMIDDLE 2828

HIGHHIGH 8787

TOTALTOTAL 1515

MUSLIM WOMEN, REFERENCE POINTS

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 44 1616 4545


HIGHHIGH 4545 5757 8787

TOTALTOTAL

MUSLIM WOMEN, EQUAL WEIGHTS FOR OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS

WIFEWIFE


HUS-HUS-BANDBAND

LOWLOW 44 16 16 2727 4545 68 68

MIDDLEMIDDLE16 16 5 5 2828 57 57 7474

HIGHHIGH4545 12 12 5757 42 42 8787

TOTALTOTAL

MUSLIM WOMEN, ACTUAL PERCENT IN OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS COMPARED

SO, WEIGHTS ARE NOT EQUAL

AND THE WEIGHTS FOR CELLS ABOVE THE MAIN DIAGONAL DIFFER FROM CELLS BELOW THE MAIN DIAGONAL

FOR MUSLIM WOMEN,

THE HIGHER A WIFE’S EDUCATION, THE STRONGER THE EFFECT OF HUSBAND’S

EDUCATION:

4-5-12

27-28-42

68-74-86

SUMMING UP:

IN ISRAEL IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

FOR HIGHLY EDUCATED MARRIED JEWISH WOMEN WITH AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN,

THE LABOUR MARKET CHANCES ARE SO GOOD THAT A POORLY EDUCATED HUSBAND DOES

NOT PULL HER DOWN

FOR LOWLY EDUCATED MARRIED MUSLIM WOMEN WITH AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN,

THE LABOUR MARKET CHANCES ARE SO SMALL THAT A HIGHLY EDUCATED HUSBAND DOES

NOT PULL HER UP

Documents

MARRIED WOMEN’S (NON)EMPLOYMENT AND THE INTERPLAY OF HUSBAND’S AND WIFE’S EDUCATION JEWS AND MUSLIMS IN ISRAEL 2001-2008