I’ll Just Stay Home: Employment Inequality among Parents

How does homeownership magnify existing gender disparities in the labor markets of the rich OECD countries? Men and women, and especially mothers and fathers, respond to homeownership differently. Owners work more hours than renters but mothers experience an ownership penalty while fathers solidify their market attachment. Both responses increase the gender gap. As such, governments pursuing dual policy objectives of promoting homeownership and greater gender parity in the labor market will find their policies working at cross-purposes. This paper analyzes the effect of homeownership on labor market attachment and explains why mothers and fathers respond to it in different ways.