‘The Double Burden’: Do Combinations of Career and Family Obligations Increase Sickness Absence among Women?

Women working full time in the labour market often face a second shift at home. We investigate whether this double burden increases sickness absence among Norwegian women.When selection is not accounted for in the analyses, increasing the number of children decreases sickness absence for a given labour-market career. However, women combining careers with children constitute a selected group less prone to absence.When sample selection is accounted for, increasing the number of children has an adverse impact on sickness absence. This finding provides some support for the double-burden hypothesis.