MARRIED WOMEN’S (NON)EMPLOYMENT AND THE INTERPLAY OF HUSBAND’S AND WIFE’S EDUCATION JEWS AND MUSLIMS IN ISRAEL

VERED KRAUS HAIFA UNIVERSITY WOUT ULTEE RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN YUVAL YONAY HAIFA UNIVERSITY RC 28 HAIFA, MAY 8-11, 2010

THIS PAPER IS ABOUT TWO TABLES THEY PERTAIN TO ISRAEL IN AND CONTAIN ALL PERTINENT CASES IN THE ISRAELI LABOUR FORCE SURVEYS FROM 2001 TO 2008 THE FIRST TABLE CROSS-CLASSIFIES FOR JEWISH MARRIED WOMEN AGED YEARS WITH THREE OR MORE CHILDREN THEIR (NON)EMPLOYMENT AGAINST THEIR LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF THEIR HUSBAND THE SECOND TABLE DOES THE SAME FOR MUSLIM WOMEN

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL JEWISH WOMEN, PERCENT EMPLOYED THE ABSOLUTE N FOT THE 58% HH-WL IS 90, THE LOWEST IN THIS TABLE

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL MUSLIM WOMEN, PERCENT EMPLOYED THE ABSOLUTE N FOT THE 68% HL-WH IS 66, THE LOWEST IN BOTH TABLES

THE RESEARCH QUESTION: EXPLAINING WOMEN’S (NON)EMPLOYMENT THREE CLASSICAL EXPLANATIONS: FACTORIAL ‘EXPLANATION’ EXPLANATION FROM ECONOMICS EXPLANATION FROM SOCIOLOGY

FACTORIAL ‘EXPLANATION’: WOMAN’S EDUCATION MARITAL STATUS NUMBER OF CHILDREN AGE PLACE OF RESIDENCE SOMETIMES INTERACTIONS, MOSTLY WITHOUT SOME GUIDING IDEA

HERE WE ARE CONCERNED WITH INTERACTIONS WE ASSUME THAT A HIGHER NUMBER OF CHILDREN IS PROHIBITIVE AND SUPPRESSES OR WEAKENS OTHER EFFECTS SUCH AS THE POSITIVE EFFECT OF WOMAN’S EDUCATION ON HER CHANCES OF EMPLOYMENT THAT IS WHY WE MADE TABLES FOR MARRIED WOMEN WITH AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN

A TESTING GROUND FOR ECONOMIC VERSUS SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS: FEMALE (NON)EMPLOYMENT AS DEPENDING UPON CHARACTISTICS OF HER HUSBAND BECAUSE OF DISINCENTIVES, A HUSBAND WITH A HIGHER EDUCATION (AND THEREFORE A HIGHER INCOME) MAKES FOR LESS EMPLOYMENT BECAUSE OF SUBCULTURAL NORMS, A HUSBAND WITH MORE EDUCATION MAKES FOR MORE EMPLOYMENT

THE STANDARD FINDING HERE IS THAT THE ECONOMIC EXPLANATION DOES NOT HAVE MUCH GOING FOR IT THE HIGHEST CHANCES FOR MARRIED WOMEN TO BE EMPLOYED ARE FOUND FOR WOMEN WITH THE HIGHEST EDUCATION MARRIED TO A MAN WITH THE HIGHEST EDUCATION THIS FINDING HINTS AT A NORM AMONG THE HIGHLY EDUCATED STIPULATING THAT A MARRIED WOMAN OUGHT TO WORK

FOR THE NETHERLANDS, BERNASCO ET AL, ESR 1998, SHOWED THAT, AFTER TAKING WOMEN’S EDUCATION INTO ACCOUNT, A HIGHER INCOME OF HUSBANDS MAKES FOR HIGHER CHANCES OF BECOMING NON- EMPLOYED AND LOWER CHANCES OF BECOMING EMPLOYED AND THAT, INDEPENDENT OF THIS, A HIGHER EDUCATION OF HUSBANDS MAKES FOR LOWER CHANCES OF BECOMING NON-EMPLOYED AND HIGHER CHANCES OF BECOMING EMPLOYED WITH THE POSITIVE EDUCATION EFFECT BEING LARGER THAN THE NEGATIVE INCOME EFFECT

(NON)EMPLOYMENT OF MARRIED WOMEN WITH CHILDREN IS NORM-GUIDED BEHAVIOUR WHOSE NORMS? THE NORMS OF HUSBANDS WITH A CERTAIN LEVEL OF EDUCATION? THE NORMS OF WIVES WITH A CERTAIN LEVEL OF EDUCATION? A WEIGHTED CHOICE BETWEEN THE NORMS OF BOTH HUSBANDS AND WIVES?

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW30 MIDDLE50 HIGH70 TOTAL THE REFERENCE POINTS ON THE MAIN DIAGONAL OF AN ARTIFICIAL TABLE

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL ONLY WIFE’S EDUCATION HAS EFFECTS: THE FEMALE INDEPENDENCE MODEL

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL THE EQUAL WEIGHT MODEL

SOBEL’S DIAGONAL REFERENCE MODELS ALLOW FOR UNEQUAL WEIGHTS THEY ARE CALLED DIAGONAL REFERENCE MODELS BECAUSE PREDICTIONS ARE NOT GENERATED FROM THE MARGINALS (AS IN ORDINARY LINEAR REGRESSION) BUT FROM THE MAIN DIAGONAL

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE 67 HIGH85 TOTAL 62 JEWISH WOMEN, REFERENCE POINTS

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL JEWISH WOMEN, EQUAL WEIGHTS FOR OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL JEWISH WOMEN, ACTUAL PERCENT IN OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS COMPARED

SO, WEIGHTS ARE NOT EQUAL AND THE WEIGHTS FOR CELLS ABOVE THE MAIN DIAGONAL DIFFER FROM CELLS BELOW THE MAIN DIAGONAL FOR JEWISH WOMEN, THE HIGHER A WIFE’S EDUCATION, THE WEAKER THE EFFECT OF HUSBAND’S EDUCATION:

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW 4 MIDDLE 28 HIGH87 TOTAL 15 MUSLIM WOMEN, REFERENCE POINTS

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL MUSLIM WOMEN, EQUAL WEIGHTS FOR OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS

WIFE LOWMIDDLEHIGHTOTAL HUS- BAND LOW MIDDLE HIGH TOTAL MUSLIM WOMEN, ACTUAL PERCENT IN OFF-DIAGONAL CELLS COMPARED

SO, WEIGHTS ARE NOT EQUAL AND THE WEIGHTS FOR CELLS ABOVE THE MAIN DIAGONAL DIFFER FROM CELLS BELOW THE MAIN DIAGONAL FOR MUSLIM WOMEN, THE HIGHER A WIFE’S EDUCATION, THE STRONGER THE EFFECT OF HUSBAND’S EDUCATION:

SUMMING UP: IN ISRAEL IN THE FIRST DECADE OF THE 21ST CENTURY FOR HIGHLY EDUCATED MARRIED JEWISH WOMEN WITH AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN, THE LABOUR MARKET CHANCES ARE SO GOOD THAT A POORLY EDUCATED HUSBAND DOES NOT PULL HER DOWN FOR LOWLY EDUCATED MARRIED MUSLIM WOMEN WITH AT LEAST THREE CHILDREN, THE LABOUR MARKET CHANCES ARE SO SMALL THAT A HIGHLY EDUCATED HUSBAND DOES NOT PULL HER UP