The Contribution of Mothers’ Employment on Their Family's Chances of Ending Welfare Benefit Receipt in Germany. Analysis of a Two-Stage Process

Abstract

The following article investigates to what extent individual employment of mothers contributes to ending receipt of welfare benefits in Germany. It disentangles the process of an employment-related exit into two stages: first, the process of taking up employment and second, the probability of ending benefit receipt with this new employment. This analysis focuses on mothers because they face particular restrictions on their labour market behaviour. It identifies the determinants involved using event history and probit models on the basis of longitudinal administrative data on benefit receipt and employment. Whereas the time and effort spent on childcare based on the age of the youngest child only influences the taking up of employment, household size plays a role only for the probability of ending benefit receipt. The individual labour market resources of the mothers influence access to the labour market, whereas for exits from benefit receipt the job position and type of employment relationship are more decisive.