Parenthood necessarily increases the scope of unpaid work in households and tends to depress women’s employment rates relative to men’s. This paper examines the relationship between the use of full-time childcare for children under 3 years of age and employment rates for men and women with one, two, or three or more children under 6 years of age in European households. Panel data from a sample of the (then) twenty-eight European Union member states for the 2005–15 period were analyzed. The results indicate that smaller differences between employment rates of men and women with one, two, or three or more children under 6 years of age are associated with greater use of full-time childcare arrangements for children under the age of 3.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Traditional gender roles impose a greater burden of unpaid work on women than men.

• Parenthood widens the gap between women's and men's employment rates.

• The use of childcare reduces gender inequality in the labor market.

• Part-time work arrangements help women combine parenthood and employment.

• Long leaves have a negative impact on women's employment.

为人父母必然会增加家庭中无偿工作的范围，并且往往会降低女性相对于男性的就业率。本文研究了欧洲家庭中 3 岁以下儿童使用全日制托儿服务与有一个、两个或三个或更多 6 岁以下儿童的男性和女性的就业率之间的关系。分析了 2005-15 年期间（当时）28 个欧盟成员国样本的面板数据。结果表明，有一个、两个或三个或更多 6 岁以下孩子的男性和女性的就业率差异较小，这与更多地使用 3 岁以下儿童的全日制托儿安排有关。

强调

• 与男性相比，传统的性别角色给女性带来了更大的无偿工作负担。

• 为人父母扩大了男女就业率之间的差距。

• 托儿服务的使用减少了劳动力市场上的性别不平等。

• 兼职工作安排帮助女性将生育和就业结合起来。

• 长假对女性就业有负面影响。