Genadek, Katie R., Wendy A. Stock, and Christiana Stoddard. 2007. “No-Fault Divorce Laws and the Labor Supply of Women with and without Children.” Journal of Human Resources 42(1): 247–274.
We use a difference-in-difference-in-difference estimator to compare changes in labor force participation, weeks, and hours of work associated with nofault divorce laws, allowing for differential responses for married women with and without children. Although other research has found that the labor supply of women in general does not respond to no-fault divorce laws, we find that no-fault divorce laws are associated with increases in the labor supply of married mothers relative to married nonmothers, even after controlling for changes in female labor supply in states without no-fault divorce laws and for property division rules associated with the laws.
Katie R. Genadek is a former master’s student, Wendy A. Stock is a professor, and Christiana Stoddard is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, Montana State University. The authors are grateful for comments from Daniel Hamermesh, Robert Fleck, seminar participants at Montana State University, and two anonymous referees. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning August 2007 through July 2010 from Wendy Stock, Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, P.O. Box 172920, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-2920 <wstock@montana.edu>.