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Recent media reports claim that highly educated, professional women are increasingly exiting the labor force when they have children and are the leading edge of an “opt-out revolution.” Research does show that mothers work fewer hours and are more likely to opt out of the labor force than non-mothers, however these trends have become less pronounced over the years. Furthermore, the extent to which women opt out or scale back on work hours depends on the occupation they are in. Using data from the first 3-year Public Use Microdata Sample of the American Community Survey (2005-2007), I examine patterns of opting out and scaling back across 92 occupations. Mothers in managerial and professional occupations are the least likely to opt out of the labor force but most likely to work reduced hours relative to non-mothers in the same occupation. Employed mothers in most other occupations work about the same number of hours per week as non-mothers. Occupational disaggregation is one of the key mechanisms through which these patterns can be evaluated, as women are opting out or scaling back within a specific context that is significantly influenced by their occupation in combination with their individual circumstances.
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