After Recent Policy Reforms in Germany: Probability and Determinants of Labour Market Integration of Lone Mothers and Mothers with a Partner who Receive Welfare Benefits

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, there have been reforms in German family and social policy, aimed at improving reconciliation of work and family and linking receipt of welfare benefits more strongly on activation and labour market participation. Mothers receiving welfare benefits are subject to both new policies. In this article, it is investigated how these mothers succeed in entering the labour market and what its determinants are. Probabilities to take up employment are estimated from administrative data for lone mothers and mothers living with a partner. Care responsibilities in the household and mothers' labour market resources influence the process of labour market integration. Lone mothers are more likely to take up work when they don't have young children in the household than mothers living with a partner. For both groups of mothers, employment is predominantly not full-time.