1. LIS/LWS Users Conference 2017
Family Policies, Women’s Earnings and Relative Inequality Among Households: Trends in 18 OECD Countries from 1981 to 2008 Rense Nieuwenhuis, Ariana Need and Henk van der Kolk
Discussion
Hema Swaminathan
LIS/LWS Users Conference 2017
Luxembourg
April 28th, 2017

2. Key contributions
Inequality: topical, important and affects us all deeply
Highlighting the role of institutions with respect to inequality via labour market integration of women
Multiple pathways linking family policies and earnings inequality
Fresh insights into causes and consequences of FLFPR dynamics
Why do we care about women’s LFP?

3. Discussion
Suggest thinking of these as two different models to unpack the underlying mechanisms
Policy & FLFPR linkages
Inequality and the three driving mechanisms
A log-log model, for example, will help shed light on relative elasticities
The first model helps understand the exact relative contributions of reconciliation policies and financial support policies (the model can be extended to include multiple policies of each kind) to FLPR. There is renewed interest in understanding the determinants of female labor force participation and this extension can make a good contribution.
The second suggested modelling framework, I believe explicitly clarifies (at least for economists) the relative impacts of the three factors considered here, directly on inequality. Also, such a regression framework can help set the base for ultimately thinking about causal pathways beyond associative relationships.

4. Discussion Theoretical motivation from classical FLFPR literature;
how does this relate to Claudia Goldin’s work on U shape relationship between economic growth and FLFP?
Grand gender convergence: removing the non-linear relationship of earnings with hours worked
Is there a non-monotonic relationship between family policies and FLFPR?
Policies to increase female labour force participation
Importance of reducing the gender wage gap
Full time work vs. part time work
Labour markets exhibit horizontal segregation and vertical segregation
Check to see how female labour force participation is defined. Is there a difference in intensity of employment?

5. Discussion
WORLD Policy Analysis Center database can help extend this analysis beyond OECD countries