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Work-family policy trade-offs for mothers? Unpacking the cross-national variation in motherhood earnings penalties

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  • Budig, Michelle J.
  • Misra, Joya
  • Boeckmann, Irene

Abstract

Recent scholarship suggests welfare state interventions, as measured by policy indices, create gendered trade-offs wherein reduced work–family conflict corresponds to greater gender wage inequality. The authors reconsider these trade-offs by unpacking these indices and examining specific policy relationships with motherhood-based wage inequality to consider how different policies have different effects. Using original policy data and Luxembourg Income Study microdata, multilevel models across 22 countries examine the relationships among country-level family policies, tax policies, and the motherhood wage penalty. The authors find policies that maintain maternal labor market attachment through moderate-length leaves, publicly funded childcare, lower marginal tax rates on second earners, and paternity leave are correlated with smaller motherhood wage penalties.

Suggested Citation

  • Budig, Michelle J. & Misra, Joya & Boeckmann, Irene, 2016. "Work-family policy trade-offs for mothers? Unpacking the cross-national variation in motherhood earnings penalties," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 119-177.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:171453
    DOI: 10.1177/0730888415615385
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    Cited by:

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    2. Joanne S. Muller & Nicole Hiekel & Aart C. Liefbroer, 2020. "The Long-Term Costs of Family Trajectories: Women’s Later-Life Employment and Earnings Across Europe," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 1007-1034, June.
    3. Ernst, Ekkehard & Merola, Rossana & Reljic, Jelena, 2024. "Fiscal policy instruments for inclusive labour markets: A review," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1406, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Hipp, Lena, 2020. "Do hiring practices penalize women and benefit men for having children? Experimental evidence from Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 250-264.
    5. Éva Fodor & Christy Glass, 2018. "Negotiating for entitlement: Accessing parental leave in Hungarian firms," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 687-702, November.
    6. Paige N. Park, 2022. "Occupational Attainment Among Parents in Germany and the US 2000–2016: The Role of Gender and Immigration Status," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2447-2492, December.
    7. Marie Connolly & Marie Melanie Fontaine & Catherine Haeck, 2023. "Child Penalties in Canada," Working Papers 23-02, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    8. Aimzhan Iztayeva, 2021. "Custodial Single Fathers before and during the COVID-19 Crisis: Work, Care, and Well-Being," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-23, March.
    9. Ilkkaracan, Ipek & Kim, Kijong & Masterson, Tom & Memiş, Emel & Zacharias, Ajit, 2021. "The impact of investing in social care on employment generation, time-, income-poverty by gender: A macro-micro policy simulation for Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    10. Eunjeong Paek, 2023. "Does Overwork Attenuate the Motherhood Earnings Penalty among Full-Time Workers?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 78-96, February.
    11. Bünning, Mareike & Hipp, Lena, 2022. "How can we become more equal? Public policies and parents' work-family preferences in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 182-196.
    12. Hipp, Lena, 2018. "Do hiring practices penalize women and benefit men for having children? Experimental evidence from Germany," SocArXiv 4a68p, Center for Open Science.
    13. Shichao Du, 2023. "Childbearing Risk, Job Sectors, and the Motherhood Wage Penalty," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-19, April.
    14. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Anna Matysiak, 2018. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: A Meta-Analysis," VID Working Papers 1808, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.

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