Fathers’ involvement in the family, fertility, and maternal employment: Evidence from central and eastern europe

Abstract

For a sample of Central and Eastern European countries, characterized by historically high female labor force participation and currently low fertility rates, we analyze whether fathers’ increased involvement in the family (housework and child-care) has the potential of increasing both fertility and maternal employment. Using two waves of the Generations and Gender Survey, we show that more paternal involvement in the family increases the likelihood that the mother will have a second child and work full-time. Men’s fertility and work decisions are instead unrelated to mothers’ housework and childcare. We also show that fathers’ involvement in housework plays a more important role than involvement in childcare. The role of fathers’ involvement in house­work is con­firmed when we con­sider women who ini­tially wanted or intended to have a child, whose partner also wanted a child, or who intended to continue working.