Balancing work and family life : a study of mothers in the UK.

The large increase in female labour force attachment observed in the UK
over the last 30 years has largely been driven by mothers of pre-school aged
children. The aim of this thesis is to examine the determinants and outcomes of
mothers' work life balance decisions throughout the early maternal years.
This thesis is made up of three empirical studies. Maternity leave policies
relax constraints on mothers' work life balance decisions by allowing attachment to
the same job around childbirth. Thus, the first empirical study in this thesis
examines the impact of taking maternity leave on the probability of employment
throughout the early years of the child's life. The implications of part time
employment (the most common outcome of the work life balance decision for
mothers in the UK) are analysed in the subsequent two studies. The analysis in the
second empirical study investigates the wage penalty associated with mothers'
transition from full to part time employment. The third empirical study examines the
well being implications of part time employment.
The results indicate that increasing access to maternity leave policy is
consistent with greater motherhood employment. There is a tendency for groups of
mothers to re-enter employment via part time work after childbirth. However, any
movement from full time to part time employment which occurs over a career break
is consistent with a large pay penalty; the motherhood pay penalty can be explained
by such behaviour. The results find little evidence of any positive well being
implications associated with part time employment. The conclusions of the analyses
conducted in this thesis provide implications for the efficient usage of labour, for
gender equality in labour market opportunities and outcomes, and for motherhood
well being. The conclusions additionally provide insight into the extent that
institutional factors constrain mothers' work life balance decisions.