ABSTRACT
In the last decades employment for mothers of young children has risen in most western countries. This rise has perhaps been most pronounced in the Scandinavian countries, and comprised primarily part-time employment. For example, in 1988 the labor force participation rate among mothers of preschool children was 86 percent in Sweden and 72 percent in Norway, while it was only about 40 percent in West Germany and 47 percent in the UK (Eurostat 1992). The Scandinavian countries also have relatively high rates for part-time work among women. In 1988 Sweden had a part-time rate of 43 percent and Norway of about 50 percent, which was higher than in West Germany and France (31 and 24 percent, respectively), but in the same range as in the UK (44 percent) and lower than in The Netherlands (57 percent) (Eurostat 1995).
