Trends in the Labor Force Participation among Married Women with Preschool Children in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Yu-han Jao, 饒雨涵
• Other Authors: Jui-Chung Allen Li
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/50361619876606604820

碩士 === 臺灣大學 === 社會學研究所 === 98 === Using eleven waves of the Women’s Marriage, Fertility, and Employment Survey, I examine trends in the labor force participation among married women with preschool children from 1983 to 2006 in Taiwan. The first aim of my research is to decompose the observed trends into cohort and period effects, net of age effects. Applying a variant of the Age-Period-Cohort (APC) model proposed by Mason et al. (1973), I find an upward period trend and a downward cohort trend. The second aim is to examine the empirical validity of competing theoretical mechanisms responsible for the trends. I find that neither family composition factors nor husband’s characteristics help explain the period or cohort trends. Instead, the results show that behavioral changes across educational groups and the changing preference of the local labor market help explain the period trend. The results are also consistent with the sample selection argument that cohort differences in work commitment may partly explain the unexpected downward cohort trend among married women with preschool children.