The impact of an unconditional parental benefit on employment of mothers: A comparative study of Estonia and Lithuania
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
ISSN: 0144-333X
Article publication date: 14 March 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to solve the puzzle of the disproportionately lower employment rate of mothers of toddlers with relation to the employment rate of mothers of preschool and school-age children in Estonia.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on the Most Similar System Design and compares Estonia with Lithuania. The applied methods include inferential statistics and microsimulation techniques, employing the OECD Benefits and Wages Calculator, the OECD Family Support Calculator and EUROMOD – the European tax-benefit microsimulation model.
Findings
The comparison revealed that the overwhelming majority of the crucial aspects of socio-cultural, economic and institutional conditions were more favourable for maternal employment in Estonia than in Lithuania. This explains the higher maternal employment rates both for mothers of pre-schoolers and school-age children in Estonia. However, one particular element of the institutional context targeted to the mothers of toddlers – the unconditional parental benefit – had an entirely opposite character. This particular feature of the parental leave scheme was the only factor that could explain why the employment rate of mothers of toddlers is disproportionately lower than the employment rate of mothers of older children in Estonia and much lower than the employment of mothers of toddlers in Lithuania.
Originality/value
This study complements previous research by providing evidence on the relative importance of universal parental benefit schemes in the context of other country-specific conditions for maternal employment, including the availability of institutional childcare. Furthermore, the results presented show that childcare regime typologies, at least those that characterise Eastern European countries, should be more sensitive to children’s age.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper was written with financial support from the Foundation for Polish Science (Parent-Bridge Programme) as part of the project “Joint influences of family and labour market policies on labour market participation and fertility decisions of men and women” coordinated by Anna Kurowska. The author is grateful to Katharina Wrohlich, Steven Saxonberg, Jana Javornik and four anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.
Citation
Kurowska, A. (2017), "The impact of an unconditional parental benefit on employment of mothers: A comparative study of Estonia and Lithuania", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 37 No. 1/2, pp. 33-50. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-08-2015-0085
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited