Conference Agenda

Since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992, State governments in the United States have been permitted to restrict abortion access up to the point that they do not place an ‘’undue burden” on those seeking abortion care. Since this ruling, abortion restrictions of various types and intensities have proliferated across the South and Midwest, especially since the 2010s. This paper uses a novel dataset of county-level abortion rates covering 20 years, as well as a database covering four types of restrictions which represent both “demand-side” restrictions (i.e., those which target abortion seekers) and “supply-side” restrictions (i.e., those which target abortion providers), to analyze the effect of abortion restrictions on abortion rates. Using a difference-in-differences design, the analysis finds that while both classes of abortion restrictions reduce the abortion rate, restrictions which target pregnant people seeking an abortion have a substantially larger effect on abortion rates. Leveraging the spatial heterogeneity of the county-level dataset, the analysis further finds that abortion restrictions have a substantially larger negative effect on abortion rates for counties which have a larger share of Black or Hispanic residents. When comparing high and low income counties, the results somewhat suggest that poorer counties experience a higher negative effect of abortion restrictions. Further, it finds large variation in the effect of different abortion restrictions by state. While demand-side laws consistently cause abortion rates to decrease, the results for supply-side laws are more heterogenous. Overall, the results in this analysis suggest that the effect of the repeal of Roe v. Wade will be substantial but unequally distributed, with those who are already more marginalized experiencing a harsher effect.

As China has entered an era of low fertility, creating a supportive environment for women to give birth is essential to encourage higher fertility rates. Chinese women have a high labor force participation rate, and their decision to have children is closely linked to their position in the labor market. Previous studies have shown that unstable employment relationships can reduce fertility rates, but their effects vary over time and place. Using data from the 2016-2020 China Family Panel Studies, this article examines the relationship between women's job stability and their fertility decisions after China's two-child policy was fully implemented in early 2016. The study finds that holding a labor contract (including both employment contracts in enterprises and staff positions In public service institutions) significantly increases women's probability of having a new child after 2016, controlling for women's personal characteristics, spouse's characteristics, and family characteristics, while this phenomenon is not significant for men. This is consistent with the findings of previous studies. Using longitudinal data from the 2016, 2018, and 2020 surveys, this article further investigates the interaction between women's job stability and their fertility decisions. The main findings are: 1) women without labor contracts significantly reduce their labor supply after giving birth, but women holding labor contracts have a smaller reduction in labor supply, and over time, childbearing will significantly increase the labor supply of women holding labor contracts. 2) having children will reduce women's income, but holding a labor contract can significantly reduce this punishment for childbirth. 3) giving birth will reduce the probability of women without labor contracts obtaining labor contracts in the next two to three years, but it will not increase the probability of women who already hold labor contracts losing their labor contracts. and 4) in the short term, there is a trade-off between seeking stable job opportunities and having children, as Women who did not have a labor contract in the past are less likely to have children when they have just obtained a labor contract. Currently, the proportion of Chinese workers holding labor contracts is still quite low, especially among women. The results of this study indicate that clarifying labor relations and improving job stability, especially for female workers, will have a positive impact on increasing fertility rates.

Parental leave taken by fathers is often seen as a promising means to promote gender equality. Many countries have thus introduced periods of paid parental leave that are earmarked to fathers. While there is a large literature on the negative consequences of employment interruptions on the careers of women, little is known about the labor market effects of parental leave for men - possibly because take-up has been relatively sparse.

In this paper, we employ a correspondence study to analyze whether there is discrimination of fathers who take short (2 months) or long (12 months) parental leave in three different occupational types. Based on more than 8,000 observations that were collected from September 2019 to August 2021, our results show that fathers in female-dominated or gender-neutral occupations do not have a lower probability to be invited to a job interview as compared to fathers who do not indicate to have taken parental leave, irrespective of the leave duration. Fathers in male-dominated jobs, however, are less likely to be invited to a job interview when they indicate that they have taken long parental leave in the past. Nevertheless, in these jobs fathers who have taken a long leave are still more likely to be invited to interviews than mothers, irrespective of their leave duration. These results hint at strong prevailing social norms with respect to gender roles in certain occupations and workplaces.

The crisis of social reproduction deepened during the post-pandemic accompanied by an economic, financial, and social crisis worldwide. The gender inequities and inequities in the development of confinement put as a priority objective to "untie the structural knots of gender inequality" placing the care of people and the planet at the center of the "sustainable development" of our societies. By putting care at the center of the discussion as part of a system of public policies with a gender focus, a new rearticulation of the development model carried out to date is imminent. The objective of this work is to start from the concepts of care and social reproduction to delve into the time dedicated to unpaid domestic and care work that exists between women and men within the family unit. The hypothesis of the research is to demonstrate how inequality in the time spent by women in unpaid work compared to men in the family unit results in precarious income and employment due to the lack of opportunities in paid work in both the formal and informal economy. This situation has always prevailed; However, the necessary cofinamiento to avoid contagion and deaths of women and men, impacted on a greater number of hours dedicated to care in the hands of women. It is concluded that to achieve women's economic empowerment and reduce gender inequality, it is important to focus on the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid work dedicated to domestic and care work. Public policies should focus on a care system as a guarantee by the State to reduce gender inequalities and achieve a more equitable society. The hypothesis of the present work is to demonstrate how the hours spent on domestic work and care work in the unpaid family unit have an asymmetric relationship with the paid work of women in the labor market. To test the hypothesis, time-use surveys are used to compare unpaid hours between both genders within the family unit. This demonstrates inequality in the hours spent on unpaid employment.