Florida International University, USA.
University of Melbourne, Australia.
Soc Sci Res. 2020 May-Jul;88-89:102429. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2020.102429. Epub 2020 Apr 21.
The transition into motherhood is often associated with a reduction in women's labor force participation, reinforcing gender employment hierarchies. Our study compares women's employment status and paid work time prior to and following birth among immigrants and native-borns in Australia. We also consider how these outcomes differ by generation status and racial and ethnic background. Australia provides a valuable context to understand these outcomes given its skilled migration policy, racial and ethnic diversity, limited childcare and family leave policies, and high rates of part-time work among mothers. We examine longitudinal data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) for women from 2001 to 2016. We find that migrant women show lower employment levels and commensurate work hours than native-borns prior to childbirth. After childbirth, migrant mothers maintain lower employment levels, but higher work hours than native-born mothers. Overall, we find that relative to native-borns, migrant women typically experience a smaller reduction in employment and work hours following childbirth, but some of this is likely due to their lower starting position prior to childbirth. Our findings have implications for skilled immigration policies and highlights the unique work-family pressures facing immigrant and native-born women.
女性成为母亲后，其劳动力参与率往往会下降，从而强化了性别就业层级。本研究比较了澳大利亚移民女性和本地女性在生育前后的就业状况和有酬工作时间，并探讨了代际地位以及种族和民族背景对这些结果的影响。鉴于澳大利亚的技术移民政策、种族和民族多样性、有限的儿童保育和家庭休假政策以及母亲兼职率较高，澳大利亚为我们理解这些结果提供了一个有价值的背景。我们使用了澳大利亚家庭收入和劳动力动态调查（HILDA）2001 年至 2016 年期间的女性纵向数据。研究发现，生育前，移民女性的就业水平和相应的工作时间均低于本地女性。生育后，移民母亲的就业水平仍低于本地母亲，但工作时间却高于后者。总体而言，与本地女性相比，移民女性在生育后就业和工作时间的减少幅度通常较小，但这在一定程度上可能是由于她们在生育前的起点较低。本研究结果对技术移民政策具有启示意义，突出了移民和本地女性所面临的独特工作与家庭压力。
