The return of the male breadwinner model? Educational effects on parents' work arrangements in Austria, 1980-2009

摘要

This study examines how the educational level of parents with children below age six affects their work arrangements. Based on Austrian microcensus data from 1980 to 2009, multinomial logistic regression models are used to investigate changes in this effect. The findings show converging trends between different educational groups. Couples with children below the age of three whose mothers are highly educated increasingly turn away from the dual breadwinner model and, rather unexpectedly, choose the male breadwinner model. Over the period covered, parents with various combinations of educational attainments opted more and more frequently for the modernized male breadwinner model in which women work part-time. The latter has become the most common arrangement among parents with preschool children. These results are interpreted in the light of institutional and cultural factors, paying special attention to parental leave regulations, the availability of childcare places and attitudes towards mothers' employment.