Linking data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79)
and the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults, we document a substantial posi-
tive correlation of employment status between mothers and their offspring in the
United States. After controlling for ability, education, fertility and wealth, offspring
of permanently employed mothers have an 11 percentage-point higher probability
to be employed in each given year than those of never employed mothers. The in-
tergenerational transmission of maternal employment is stronger to daughters but
significant also to sons. Investigating potential mechanisms, we provide suggestive
evidence for a role model channel, through which labor force participation may be
transmitted. Offspring seem to emulate the example of their mother when they
observe her working. By contrast, we are able to rule out several alternative can-
didate explanations such as network effects, occupation-specific human capital and
local conditions of the labor market
