AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
The Gender Socialization of Children Growing Up in Nontraditional Families
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 109,
May 2019
(pp. 115–21)
Abstract
We study how childhood exposure to a nontraditional family (a working married mother, a married mother that is the primary breadwinner, or a non-married mother) affects gender role attitudes in young adulthood. Boys and girls develop more liberal gender attitudes when they spend more time with a non-married mother. In intact families, boys' gender attitudes, more than girls', appear positively influenced by the role model of a working mother, especially if she is also the primary breadwinner. However, the effect of childhood exposure to a mother with greater economic power on boys' gender attitudes is smaller in more gender conservative families.Citation
Bertrand, Marianne. 2019. "The Gender Socialization of Children Growing Up in Nontraditional Families." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 109: 115–21. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191077Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification