Do American mothers use self-employment as a flexible work alternative?

This paper provides evidence that self-employment is a quantitatively important work alternative that American mothers use to gain workplace flexibility. First, I use panel data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to show that self-employment rates are higher when women have young children at home in a pattern that has remained largely unchanged over the previous three decades. I estimate that women whose youngest child is two years old have 14% higher predicted self-employment rates due to the birth of that child. Second, I show that self-employed women appear to have more flexibility in their work location, hours, and schedule than wage and salary employed women using data from the American Time Use Survey. I find that mothers with young children use self-employment to spend an additional two hours per day with their children. My results suggest that mothers use self-employment to gain more control over their work environment allowing them to better manage their household responsibilities while working. These findings contribute to the ongoing discussion on the importance of family friendly work policies and the rise of alternative work arrangements.