Do Social Norms affect Labour Supply and Preferences for Job Attributes? Evidence From a Representative Survey Experiment

We investigate how information about social norms impacts intended labour market participation and preferences for job attributes of adolescents in Germany. Respondents in the treatment group will be informed about the social norm according to which mothers of young children are expected to reduce their labour market participation. More specifically, they are told that 91 percent of the German population thinks that the mother should reduce her labour market participation when children are still young, whereas only 41 percent think that fathers should do so. After information provision, respondents in the treatment group and in the uninformed control group are asked about their expected labour market participation and their preferences for different job attributes.

2018-06-04

2018-07-03

Our primary outcomes of interest are adolescents’ intended labour market participation and preferences for job attributes.

The outcome question on the intended labour market participation is worded as follows:
“Imagine you are 30 years old and have a child between the age of 1 and 6 years with your partner. What do you think, how many hours per week would you like to work to earn money?”
Answers can be provided on a 5-point scale: 0, i.e. not at all; around 10 hours; around 20 hours; around 30 hours; around 40 hours, i.e. full-time
“How many hours per week would you like your partner to work to earn money?”
Again, answers can be provided on a 5-point scale: 0, i.e. not at all; around 10 hours; around 20 hours; around 30 hours; around 40 hours, i.e. full-time

The outcome question on the preferences for job attributes is worded as follows:
“Now, we will talk about the profession you would like to work in later. For the choice of the profession, several things could play a role. How important are the following things for your professional choice?
- The profession can be reconciled well with having children.
- The profession leaves me enough spare time.
- The profession offers good opportunities to work part-time.
- The profession allows to earn a high income.
- The profession offers good career possibilities.
- The profession offers a secure employment (no unemployment).
- The profession is fun.
- The profession is challenging for me.”
Answers can be provided on a 5-point scale: very important, quite important, quite unimportant, very unimportant. In the question on the job attributes, the order of the items is randomized at the individual level to avoid sequence effects.
In that list, we are particularly interested in items related to work-time.

After eliciting the main outcome variables mentioned above, we further elicit respondents’ opinions towards the division of roles between mothers and fathers to investigate potential mediating channels of our treatment.

In addition, we plan to perform heterogeneity analyses with respect to gender and respondents’ prior beliefs.

We elicit adolescents’ opinion towards the division of roles between mothers and fathers as potential mediating channels of the treatment on our primary outcomes of interest. The corresponding question is worded as follows:
“To what extent do you agree with the following statements?
- The society demands that mothers should reduce their labour market participation to care about their children.
- The society demands that fathers should reduce their labour market participation to care about their children.
- Mothers and fathers qualify equally well for caring about their children.
- It is better for the family income if mothers care about the children and fathers go to work.
- I hold the opinion, that mothers whose children are aged between 1 and 6 years, should reduce their labour market participation.
- I hold the opinion, that fathers whose children are aged between 1 and 6 years, should reduce their labour market participation.”

We conduct the survey experiment in a sample of 1,000 adolescents between the age of 14 and 17 years. The survey is conducted in cooperation with a renowned German survey institute, KANTAR Public. The recruitment of the adolescents is managed by KANTAR Public, which collects the data via an online platform. That is, our participants answer the survey questions autonomously on their own digital devices. Randomization is carried out by KANTAR Public at the individual level, using a computer.

Our experiment is structured as follows:
Respondents will be randomly assigned to the treatment group (p=0.5) or the control group (p=0.5)

Sequence of events in the treatment group:
1. Belief elicitation about social norms
2. Information provision
3. Elicitation of intended labour market participation (Primary outcome)
4. Elicitation of preferences for job attributes (Primary outcome)
5. Elicitation of opinion towards the division of roles between mothers and fathers (Secondary outcome)

Sequence of events in the control group:
1. Elicitation of intended labour market participation (Primary outcome)
2. Elicitation of preferences for job attributes (Primary outcome)
3. Elicitation of opinion towards the division of roles between mothers and fathers (Secondary outcome)
4. Belief elicitation about social norms

Randomization is carried out by the survey company KANTAR Public, using a computer.

at the individual level

No

1000

1,000 adolescents in the age between 14 and 17 years

500 adolescents in the treatment group, 500 in the control group