Participation of Women in the Labor Market in Europe and Informal Care Hours

Abstract

An analysis was made of the effect of providing informal care, in terms of the weekly work hours, on middle-aged women in Europe aged between 30 and 59 years, using as reference subjects women aged between 20 and 29 years. The data come from the eight European Community Household Panel surveys (ECHP). We compared the group of women caregivers and noncaregivers using a zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression model. The results show that caring for dependents reduces weekly work hours, especially in southern European countries.

eir becoming entrepreneurs. Five plots are identified: the women who positioned themselves as the creators of their businesses; those who define themselves as artists, those who assumed a position of co-author; those who described themselves as a ‘responsible wife’; those who defined themselves as belonging to the second generation. In fact becoming a woman entrepreneur implies a process of learning and enacting behaviors, discourses and competent participation in a local community. The narratives of becoming a woman entrepreneur are analyzed in relation to two dimensions: temporality and accountability.