Tuesday 04 November 2025 13:30 - 15:00

SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH

About this event

Household division of labour market activities shift after having a child, and traditionally marriage has facilitated specialization. Instead, in more modern, egalitarian couples, can marriage enable couples to coordinate their labour, child and leisure activities, leading to an increase in gender equality of labour supply? We estimate the causal effect of marriage versus cohabitation on labour market trajectories of new parents. Applying a Marginal Treatment Effects framework, we find the effect of marriage for couples with "low resistance" to marry - whom we label as traditional couples - is to specialize. Mothers work less whilst fathers earn more, are more likely to commute to work and into more competitive occupations than cohabitors. But, the couples with "high resistance" to marry - i.e. the more modern couples, exhibit coordination of labour market activities. Mothers no longer reduce labour supply and there is a fathers marriage earnings penalty compared to cohabiting men. These fathers choose a work life balance, taking more paternity leave and not to commute more than cohabitors. Given this, does the increased gender equality for the coordinators harm children? We find no effect of marriage on children either for traditional or more modern households.

Participants are expected to adhere to the CEP Events Code of Conduct.

Directions

This event will take place in SAL 2.04, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Sir Arthur Lewis Building, LSE, 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PH.

Labour Markets Workshops are part of the CEP's Labour Markets programme.