Gender Differences in Occupational-Career Interruptions

This book addresses the following research question:§are there cross-national gender differences in the§patterns and consequences of occupational-career§interruptions? Interruptions include unemployment,§illness/disability, parental leave, household time,§care for other, schooling, retirement, and military§service. To account for cross-national differences, I§analyze panel survey data for the each country, U.S.,§Sweden, and Poland. Statistical techniques include§descriptive statistics and change models. The§results suggest a gendered nature to most§interruptions. Interruptions can be gender-neutral§(schooling, retirement, unemployment, and illness),§female-specific (parental leave, household time, and§caring for others), or male-specific (military§service). Women and men experience variation in the§consequences of the interruptions, depending on the§interruption and institutional context. The greatest§amount of gender equality in the wage consequences§for unemployment and illness in Sweden, the least§amount of gender equality in Poland, and in the§United States, there is less gender equality than in§Sweden but more than in Poland.