Contextualizing the Education Effect on Women's Employment: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis

The authors examine how and why the effect of education on women's employment varies cross-nationally. First, they present a theoretical model that (a) outlines the micro-level mechanisms underlying education effects on women's employment in the couple context and (b) proposes contextual moderators at the country level. Second, they test the theoretical model against survey data from the United Nations' Generations and Gender Programme for 5 European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, and Norway). The data comprise 10,048 educationally homogamous heterosexual couples involving a woman age 20–45. The results indicate that more highly educated couples are more likely to have dual-earner arrangements in each country, yet the strength of education effects varied substantially between countries and across the family life cycle. In contrast to prior work, the authors find that education effects are not generally smaller in countries that are supportive of women's employment. This relation holds only for later child-rearing phases. (Author's abstract)