Talamas Marcos, Miguel Ángel (2023). Replication Package for: Grandmothers and the Gender Gap in the Mexican Labor Market. IDB Open Data. https://doi.org/10.60966/r5n8-e780

1. English

What is this dataset?

This dataset accompanies the IDB publication Grandmothers and the Gender Gap in the Mexican Labor Market.
It combines multiple Mexican household surveys to analyze maternal labor participation in Mexico and the intergenerational role of grandmothers in the labor market.
The primary source is the ENOE (National Survey of Occupation and Employment), the largest household survey in Mexico, spanning Q1 2005 to Q1 2020 and comprising 61 quarterly waves and about 120,000 households per wave.

What are the primary data sources used?

• ENOE (National Survey of Occupation and Employment): Provides individual and household data on employment, income, education, gender, and family relationships.
• ENESS (National Survey of Employment and Social Security): Adds information on childcare usage and costs for 2009, 2013, and 2017.
• DENUE (National Economic Units Statistical Directory): Supplies data on daycare facility availability (public and private) at the municipal level.
• Census 2020: Used to estimate the number of children under five per municipality.
• Directory of Estancias Infantiles (2016): Complements daycare availability measures.

What does the dataset include?

• Merged ENOE microdata and ENESS daycare cost data
• Municipality-level indicators for childcare availability and affordability
• Variables identifying three-generation households and family structures
• Derived measures of childcare costs, hourly costs, and availability ratios per child population

What is the time and geographic coverage?

• Temporal coverage: Q1 2005 – Q1 2020 (61 survey waves).
• Geographic coverage: National, including all states and municipalities in Mexico.

Why does this dataset matter?

The dataset helps uncover how grandmothers’ presence affects the gender gap in the Mexican labor market.
It provides a unique view of how family structure and childcare availability influence maternal labor participation.
By combining multiple national data sources, it supports research on women in Mexico, intergenerational care, and family labor dynamics, complementing international comparisons such as those in the OECD Family Database.

How can researchers use the dataset?

• Examine how grandmother co-residence affects female labor force participation.
• Estimate the impact of public and private daycare availability on maternal employment.
• Compare Mexican childcare and labor dynamics with those of other OECD and Latin American countries.
• Explore intergenerational household structures and their effects on gender inequality in the workforce.

What are the limitations of the dataset?

• Household identifiers may repeat across quarters, requiring constructed unique IDs.
• ENESS coverage is limited to specific years (2009, 2013, 2017).
• Daycare availability measures are static (from 2015–2016 data).
• Causal inference should be interpreted carefully—data are observational, not experimental.

What is the grandmother gender gap in childcare?

The dataset indicates that grandmothers play a significantly larger role in childcare compared to other family members, reflecting a gendered division of unpaid care work. This gap refers to the disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities undertaken by grandmothers relative to grandfathers.

Why do grandmothers provide more unpaid childcare than grandfathers?

The dataset does not explicitly explain causal mechanisms. However, the observed distribution of caregiving roles suggests that traditional gender norms and family structures contribute to grandmothers assuming primary caregiving responsibilities.

What are the grandmother vs grandfather childcare hours statistics?

The dataset shows that a higher percentage of childcare is provided by grandmothers compared to other family members, though it does not provide a detailed breakdown of hours between grandmothers and grandfathers.

What is the impact of the grandmother gender gap on women's retirement savings?

The dataset does not directly measure retirement savings. However, it provides evidence that caregiving responsibilities affect employment outcomes, which can indirectly influence lifetime earnings and savings.

The dataset does not explicitly measure career progression of mothers. It does, however, highlight the role of grandmothers in enabling childcare, which may support maternal labor force participation.

What are gender disparities in late-life caregiving responsibilities?

The dataset provides evidence that caregiving roles in later life are disproportionately carried by women, particularly grandmothers, reinforcing gender inequality in unpaid labor.

What are the differences in maternal vs paternal grandmother involvement rates in childcare?

The dataset includes indicators suggesting differences by lineage (e.g., maternal side effects), but does not provide a full comparative breakdown of maternal versus paternal grandmother involvement.

What is the 'sandwich generation' and the grandmother gender gap?

The dataset does not explicitly analyze the sandwich generation, but the caregiving patterns suggest that older women may simultaneously support multiple generations.

Why do grandmothers statistically provide more unpaid childcare than grandfathers?

While causal explanations are not directly included, the dataset shows higher participation of grandmothers in caregiving roles, consistent with gendered labor patterns in households.

What is the cconomic impact of the 'grandmother penalty' on women's lifetime earnings?

The dataset provides evidence that caregiving responsibilities are associated with changes in employment probability, suggesting potential long-term impacts on earnings.

What are the key statistics on grandmothers as primary caregivers?

The dataset shows that grandmothers account for a substantial share of caregiving compared to other family members, indicating their central role in informal childcare systems.

How does becoming a grandmother affect women's labor force participation and lifetime earnings?

The dataset indicates that events such as the death of a grandmother are associated with measurable changes in employment probabilities, suggesting that grandmothers play a role in enabling labor supply within families.

Which data sources and metrics should an academic use to measure the gender gap among grandparents?

The dataset includes indicators on caregiving roles and employment outcomes, which can be combined with labor force participation and demographic data to assess gender disparities in caregiving.