Gender Differences in Work Interruptions as Unequal Effects of Marriage and Childrearing: Findings from a Canadian National Survey

Abstract

Gender Differences in Work Interruptions as Unequal Effects of Marriage and Childrearing: Findings From A Canadian National Survey Research on work interruption has shown substantial gender differences in the propensity to quit. Although the adverse effects of job interruption have been used to explain why some women have lower earnings, gender difference in job discontinuity has largely been interpreted as results of unequal work environment. This paper compares work interruption for men and women using a 1984 national sample of Canadians, and argues that some of their differences in job discontinuity can be attributed to the unequal effects of marriage and childrearing. The findings show that although women are more likely than men to experience work interruption, and for a longer duration, job interruption affects women more adversely than men in terms of their likelihood to return to work, when differences in work environment facing part-time work and fulltime work have been taken into account. Gender differences in work interruption can be attributed to unequal effects of marriage and childrearing. Our data confirm that marriage and childrearing explain a substantial part of job discontinuity for women but not for men.

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