The role of coresident grandparents in the Asian-white maternal employment gap in the US

Abstract Women’s fertility and employment decisions are closely linked, and both may be influenced by the availability of childcare. We investigate the role of grandparent coresidence—a potential source of childcare—in maternal employment, focusing on differences between Asian and non-Hispanic white women in the United States. Specifically, we examine whether the higher share of Asians living in an intergenerational household can account for why the maternal employment gap is smaller among Asian women than among their white counterparts. We also explore whether differences in characteristics among the older generation help explain this difference in the maternal employment gap. We find that living in an intergenerational household is positively related to employment among Asian women, on average, whereas the opposite is the case among white women. Furthermore, we find that having a coresident grandparent appears to be an important contributor to the smaller maternal employment gap among Asians. In addition, grandparent coresidence is more strongly related to maternal employment among foreign-born women than among US natives, suggesting that immigrants may be more likely to bring over their parents if they need childcare.