We use event history analysis and retrospective data from the 2001 General Social Survey
to study the changing relationships between conjugal life and motherhood and the employment
behaviour of Canadian women who were born between 1937 and 1976. Our results show the
decreasing importance of marriage to explain the rhythm of entry and return into the labour
market among younger generations of women. However, marriage still appears to increase the
rate of work interruption for those who had started working. The effect of motherhood on the key
stages of women’s working lives was also found to vary across generations.
Keywords: event history analysis, marriage, motherhood, female employment.