Locus of Control and Mothers’ Return to Employment

This paper investigates the effect of locus of control (LOC) on the length of mothers’ employment break after childbirth. Duration data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study reveal that women with an internal LOC return to employment more quickly than women with an external LOC. We find that this effect is particularly pronounced in jobs in which the penalties in terms of lower wage growth are highest. We thus argue that the effect of LOC on return is mainly related to differential appreciation of the career costs of longer maternity leave.