Gender Differences in Sickness Absence and the Gender Division of Family Responsibilities

Nikolay Angelov, Per Johansson and Erica Lindahl ()
Additional contact information
Erica Lindahl: IFAU

No 7379, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This study investigates possible reasons for the gender difference in sickness absence. We estimate both short- and long-term effects of parenthood in a within-couple analysis based on the timing of parenthood. We find that after entering parenthood, women increase their sickness absence by between 0.5 days per month (during the child's third year) and 0.85 days per month (during year 17) more than their spouse. By investigating possible explanations for the observed effect, we conclude that the effect mainly stems from higher home commitment, which reduces women's labour market attachment and, in turn, increases female sickness absence.

Keywords: double burden; health investment; household work; labour market work; moral hazard; parenthood; sickness insurance; work absence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 D13 I19 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2013-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-hrm and nep-ias
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Gender differences in sickness absence and the gender division of family responsibilities (2013)
Working Paper: Gender differences in sickness absence and the gender division of family responsibilities (2013)
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