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Abstract

One of the stylised facts from the past thirty years has been the declining rate of first births before age 30 for all women and the increase rate of first births after age 30 among women with four-year college degrees (Martin 2000). What are some of the factors behind women’s decision to postpone their childbearing? We hypothesize that the wage difference often observed between like-educated mothers and non-mothers (Waldfogel 1998) may be affected by the postponement of childbearing until after careers are fully established. We use individual-level data on women from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and find that: (a) College-educated mothers do not experience a motherhood wage penalty at all, and (b) fertility delay enhances their earnings opportunities even further.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11150-004-0978-9
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Springer in its journal Review of Economics of the Household.

Volume (Year): 3 (2005)
Issue (Month): 1 (09)
Pages: 17-48

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Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:3:y:2005:i:1:p:17-48

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Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=109451

Related research

Keywords: family pay gap; mother’s wages; fertility delay; motherhood wage gap; wage penalty; childbearing postponement; college education;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

• J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
• J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

References

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1. Sanders Korenman & David Neumark, 1990. "Marriage, Motherhood, and Wages," NBER Working Papers 3473, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
   
   • Sanders Korenman & David Neumark, 1992. "Marriage, Motherhood, and Wages," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 27(2), pages 233-255.
2. Becker, Gary S, 1985. "Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages S33-58, January.
3. Oded Galor & David N. Weil, 1993. "The Gender Gap, Fertility, and Growth," NBER Working Papers 4550, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
   
   • Galor, Oded & Weil, David N, 1996. "The Gender Gap, Fertility, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 374-87, June.
   • Galor, Oded & Weil, David, 1995. "The Gender Gap, Fertility and Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 1157, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
4. V. Joseph Hotz & Seth G. Sanders & Susan Williams McElroy, 1999. "Teenage Childbearing and Its Life Cycle Consequences: Exploiting a Natural Experiment," NBER Working Papers 7397, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
   
   • V. Joseph Hotz & Susan Williams McElroy & Seth G. Sanders, 2005. "Teenage Childbearing and Its Life Cycle Consequences: Exploiting a Natural Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
   • V. Joseph Hotz & Susan Williams McElroy & Seth G. Sanders, 1999. "Teenage Childbearing and Its Life Cycle Consequences: Exploiting a Natural Experiment," JCPR Working Papers 157, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
5. Trude Lappegård, 2000. "New fertility trends in Norway," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 2(3), March.
6. Elizabeth M. Caucutt & Nezih Guner & John Knowles, 2002. "Why Do Women Wait? Matching, Wage Inequality, and the Incentives for Fertility Delay," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(4), pages 815-855, October.
7. Iyigun, Murat F., 2000. "Timing of childbearing and economic growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 255-269, February.
8. McKinley L. Blackburn & David E. Bloom, 1990. "Fertility Timing, Wages, and Human Capital," NBER Working Papers 3422, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
   
   • Blackburn, McKinley L & Bloom, David E & Neumark, David, 1993. "Fertility Timing, Wages, and Human Capital," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-30.
   • Bloom, D.E. & Freeman, R.B. & Blackburn, M.L., 1991. "Fertility Timing, Wages, and Human Capital," Discussion Papers 1991_49, Columbia University, Department of Economics.
9. Murphy, Kevin M & Welch, Finis, 1990. "Empirical Age-Earnings Profiles," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(2), pages 202-29, April.
10. Amalia Miller, 2011. "The effects of motherhood timing on career path," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1071-1100, July.
11. Deborah J. Anderson & Melissa Binder & Kate Krause, 2003. "The motherhood wage penalty revisited: experience, heterogeneity, work effort, and work-schedule flexibility," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(2), pages 273-294, January.
12. Derek Neal, 2002. "The Measured Black-White Wage Gap Among Women is Too Small," NBER Working Papers 9133, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    
    • Derek Neal, 2004. "The Measured Black-White Wage Gap among Women Is Too Small," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(S1), pages S1-S28, February.
13. Joyce P. Jacobsen & James Wishart Pearce III & Joshua L. Rosenbloom, 2005. "Measuring the Effects of Childbearing on Labor Market Outcomes," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2005-002, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
14. Suzanne Duryea & Jere R. Behrman & Miguel Székely, 1999. "Decomposing Fertility Differences Across World Regions and Over Time: Is Improved Health More Important than Women's Schooling?," Research Department Publications 4182, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
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16. Apps, Patricia & Rees, Ray, 2001. "Fertility, Female Labor Supply and Public Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 409, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    
    • Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2010. "Fertility, Female Labor Supply and Public Policy," Working Papers id:2754, eSocialSciences.
17. Charles H. Mullin & Ping Wang, 2002. "The Timing of Childbearing among Heterogeneous Women in Dynamic General Equilibrium," NBER Working Papers 9231, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
18. Drolet, Marie, 2002. "Wives, Mothers and Wages: Does Timing Matter?," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2002186e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
19. Renbao Chen & S. Morgan, 1991. "Recent Trends in the Timing of First Births in the United States," Demography, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 513-533, November.
20. Siv Gustafsson, 2001. "Optimal age at motherhood. Theoretical and empirical considerations on postponement of maternity in Europe," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 225-247.

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Citations

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Cited by:

1. Elizabeth Ty Wilde & Lily Batchelder & David T. Ellwood, 2010. "The Mommy Track Divides: The Impact of Childbearing on Wages of Women of Differing Skill Levels," NBER Working Papers 16582, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
2. Lucie Schmidt, 2008. "Risk preferences and the timing of marriage and childbearing," Demography, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 439-460, May.
   
   • Lucie Schmidt, 2007. "Risk Preferences and the Timing of Marriage and Childbearing," Department of Economics Working Papers 2007-03, Department of Economics, Williams College.
3. Petersen, Trond & Penner, Andrew & Hogsnes, Geir, 2007. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: Sorting Versus Differential Pay," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt9886p84f, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
4. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Lacuesta, Aitor & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2010. "Chutes and Ladders: Dual Tracks and the Motherhood Dip," IZA Discussion Papers 5403, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
5. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Kimmel, Jean, 2008. "New Evidence on the Motherhood Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 3662, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
6. Tanya Livermore & Joan Rodgers & Peter Siminski, 2011. "The Effect of Motherhood on Wages and Wage Growth: Evidence for Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 87(s1), pages 80-91, 09.
   
   • Livermore, Tanya & Siminski, Peter & Rodgers, Joan, 2010. "The Effect of Motherhood on Wages and Wage Growth: Evidence for Australia," Economics Working Papers wp10-12, School of Economics, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
7. Francesca Modena & Concetta Rondinelli & Fabio Sabatini, 2012. "Economic insecurity and fertility intentions: the case of Italy," EERI Research Paper Series EERI_RP_2012_18, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
   
   • Modena, Francesca & Rondinelli, Concetta & Sabatini, Fabio, 2012. "Economic insecurity and fertility intentions: the case of Italy," MPRA Paper 36353, University Library of Munich, Germany.
8. Petersen, Trond & Penner, Andrew M. & Høgnsnes, Geir, 2010. "The Within-Job Motherhood Wage Penalty in Norway, 1979–1996," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt4h8849rq, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
9. José Alberto Molina & Víctor M. Montuenga, 2008. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty in a Mediterranean Country: The Case of Spain," Documentos de Trabajo dt2008-02, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Zaragoza.
   
   • Molina, José Alberto & Montuenga, Víctor M., 2008. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty in a Mediterranean Country: The Case of Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 3574, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
10. Concetta Rondinelli & Arnstein Aassve & Francesco Billari, 2010. "Women´s wages and childbearing decisions: Evidence from Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(19), pages 549-578, April.
11. Fernández-Kranz, Daniel & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2011. "Unintended Effects of a Family-Friendly Law in a Segmented Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 5709, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
12. Bratti, Massimiliano & Cavalli, Laura, 2013. "Delayed First Birth and New Mothers' Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Biological Fertility Shocks," IZA Discussion Papers 7135, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
13. José Molina & Víctor Montuenga, 2009. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty in Spain," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 237-251, September.
14. Amalia Miller, 2011. "The effects of motherhood timing on career path," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1071-1100, July.
15. repec:cep:sticas:case144 is not listed on IDEAS
16. Massimiliano Bratti & Konstantinos Tatsiramos, 2011. "The effect of delaying motherhood on the second childbirth in Europe," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 291-321, October.

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