Careers and motherhood: policies for compatibility

This paper examines the economic issues relevant to policy debates that surround the increasing labour force participation of mothers. We review the main changes in women's labour market participation in Britain. The main source of increase in women's participation rates has come from mothers returning to work after childbirth after progressively shorter intervals. The major influences on this behaviour and the length of time spent out of work over the first childbirth and the associated empirical work are also reviewed. These changes have raised issues relevant to maternity and parental leave, childcare provision, employers' family-friendly working arrangements and children's welfare. The paper makes some recommendations about how to further gender equity in a form compatible with family life.