The Motherhood Earnings Dip: Evidence from Administrative Records

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Human Resources
Year: 2013
Volume: 48
Issue: 1

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Using Spanish Social Security records, we document the channels through which mothers fall onto a lower earnings track, such as shifting into part-time work, accumulating lower experience, or transitioning to lower-paying jobs, and are able to explain 71 percent of the unconditional individual fixed-effects motherhood wage gap. The earnings trajectories' analysis reveals that “mothers to be” experience important relative earnings increases several years before giving birth but this earnings' advantage falls right after birth, taking in average nine years to recover. Heterogeneity matters as most of the motherhood dip is driven by workers with permanent contracts.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:uwp:jhriss:v:48:y:2013:i:1:p:169-197
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25