Motherhood Penalties in the U.S., 1986–2014

Objective This article aims to determine whether the wage penalty for motherhood changed in the United States between 1986 and 2014 and to assess the relative impact of education and experience on the penalty over time. Background Mothers earn less than childless women. Although mothers' educat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of marriage and family Vol. 81; no. 2; pp. 434 - 449
Main Authors:	Jee, Eunjung, Misra, Joya, Murray‐Close, Marta
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Hoboken, USA Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-04-2019 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects:	Capital investments Childhood Needs Childlessness Children cohort Demography Departments Earnings Economic models Economics Education Educational attainment Employed Parents Employment families and work Family (Sociological Unit) Family leave Fathers Females Fines & penalties gender Gender Discrimination Gender equity Human capital Individual Characteristics Investment Investments Labor force Labor Force Nonparticipants Labor market Least Squares Statistics Longitudinal Studies Males motherhood Mothers Norwegian Penalties Role of Education Social sciences Sociology Time Trends Wages Wages & salaries Women Workforce Working mothers Working women New York California United States > US Norway
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Summary:	Objective This article aims to determine whether the wage penalty for motherhood changed in the United States between 1986 and 2014 and to assess the relative impact of education and experience on the penalty over time. Background Mothers earn less than childless women. Although mothers' educational levels and labor market experience have increased over time, most studies do not analyze the motherhood penalty over time. Method This article uses ordinary least squares and fixed effects regressions to estimate the motherhood penalty in three time periods (1986–1995, 1996–2004, and 2006–2014) and compares the penalty across time periods. The data used in the analysis are from the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics, one of the only nationally representative data sets that contains a measure of actual labor market experience. Results The motherhood penalty remains quite stable over time and may have worsened for mothers with one child. The gross gap in pay between childless women and mothers of two or more children has narrowed only because mothers' have increased their investments in human capital, such as education and workforce experience. Ordinary least squares and fixed effects models provide similar results. Conclusion Mothers' human capital investment may not be enough to lower the motherhood wage penalty in the United States.
ISSN:	0022-2445 1741-3737
DOI:	10.1111/jomf.12543