RELIGION AND LABOR SUPPLY: THE CASE OF AMERICAN JEWS

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of religiosity on the labor supply of Jewish men and women. Using data from the National Jewish Population Surveys in the years 1990 and 2001, I estimate the likelihood of being in the labor force for both Jewish women and men. In addition to labor force participation, I also study the changes in hours worked per week. I test religious variables that are frequently found in the literature on this subject such as denominational affiliation, strength of belief, and the frequency of attending synagogue. Additionally, I test childhood religious factors and other expressions of Judaism that are not examined in articles pertaining to other religions. The results of my models are somewhat consistent with the relevant literature. I find that Jewish denominational affiliation has no influence on LFP or hours worked after controlling for strength of belief and synagogue attendance, whereas intensity of belief does have a slight negative effect. On the other hand, the Jewish population does differ from other religions in that childhood religious variables generally have no significant impact on female LFP or hours worked. My analysis, however, does find an effect of childhood variables on the labor supply of men, which has not been tested within the context of other religions. Another distinctive finding is that increased synagogue attendance has a very significant and positive effect on LFP and hours worked in all of my female specifications. While this finding is not totally contrary to the results found in other religions, the effect is much bigger and consistent for the female Jewish population than in other analyses. However, after controlling for possible engodeneity in the synagogue attendance variables, the effect of going to synagogue on labor supply in women loses its statistical significance.