Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272682 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16055
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This study identifies a new mechanism to account for the persistent gender differences in earnings after childbirth. Aside from women's voluntary wage cuts in pursuit of family-friendly job amenities, we claim that adverse labor market conditions at the time of childbearing widen the gender gap among parents. Employing the instrumental variable (IV) method against a large cross-sectional dataset from the US, we find that giving birth during a recession reduces mothers' earnings, whereas fathers remain mostly unaffected. The asymmetric impact of a recession at the time of childbirth persists for a long time and accounts for 30–40 percent of the after-childbirth gender gap in earnings. Unintended impacts of recession on parenthood gender gap leaves room for government intervention on women's career breaks.
Subjects: 
gender gap
recession
long-term effects
fertility
child penalty
JEL: 
E32
J13
J21
J31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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