Project WeLaR’s second webinar brought together 21 participants who debated the role gender plays in labour market dynamics. The event, organised by HIVA KU Leuven on March 18, 2024 featured four presentations and was chaired by Laurène Thil (HIVA KU Leuven)
Maryna Tverdostup (wiiw) presented a WeLaR paper on fertility, household models and labour supply. She demonstrated that decisions to have children continue to penalise women in Europe, exacerbating the gap between fathers’ and mothers’ positions in the workforce and their compensation (see the presentation here).
Keonhi Son (SOCIUM, Uni Bremen) discussed the origins of social policy for women workers, and specifically the emergence of paid maternity leave in Western countries. Son argued that paid maternity leave was invented by male policymakers to address depopulation concerns (see the presentation here).
Romane Frecheville-Faucon (BETA-CNRS, Université de Strasbourg) presented a paper she wrote with Agathe Simon examining how the availability of public services shapes allocation of women’s time. She argued that public services may affect women’s time use but not men’s, and that this effect varies depending on their age and household composition.
In his presentation, Lukas Riedel (ZEW, Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research) talked about his and Valentina Melentyeva’s paper that highlights the persistence of gender inequality in labour markets worldwide. Riedel argued for more accurate ways of assessing child penalties, to comprehend gender disparities and provide informed policy recommendations.
The webinar agenda is available here.
Laurène Thil presentation is available here.
