Employment of young mothers in Greater Jakarta

In Indonesia, as in many countries around the world, childbearing has a significant impact on women’s labour force participation. This study uses the 2010 Greater Jakarta Transition to Adulthood Survey (N=3,006 representative sample of young adults aged 20-34) to investigate the issues regarding the labour market involvement of young mothers in Jakarta, which have previously not been studied in great detail. In addition to looking at the overall determinants of current labour force participation among mothers, we also examine the timing to entering the labour force after the birth of the first child using detailed monthly data, as well as the reasons for not working. We find that the employment of women is strongly determined by their education level, the number of children they have as well as the age of the children. In addition, women living with their extended families have higher levels of labour force participation. For first time mothers, after the birth of the first child return to work occurs very rapidly, within 3 months, for higher educated women but the transition into the labour force is much slower for women with lower levels of education. A primary reason for not working is lack of childcare options.