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New Evidence on the Motherhood Wage Gap

Author

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  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina

    (University of California, Merced)

  • Kimmel, Jean

    (Western Michigan University)

Abstract

Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we assess the role of employment-based health insurance offers in explaining the motherhood wage gap. Researchers have been aware of the existence of a motherhood gap for many years; yet, the literature has failed to address the role of non-wage compensation in explaining the motherhood wage gap despite the increasing importance of non-wage benefits in total compensation packages. As hedonic wage theory suggests, mothers might view health benefits as desirable and trade-off wages for health insurance. Thus, lower wages for mothers might reflect their relative preferences for jobs offering health insurance. We estimate an endogenous switching wage equation model to account for the self-selection and, thus, endogeneity of having an employment-based health insurance offer. We find that, once the endogeneity of having an employment-based health insurance offer is accounted for, the motherhood wage gap disappears.

Suggested Citation

  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Kimmel, Jean, 2008. "New Evidence on the Motherhood Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 3662, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3662
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Drasch, Katrin & Abraham, Martin, 2019. "Compensating wage differentials and the labor market re-entry of mothers: Evidence from a factorial survey," SocArXiv vap6x, Center for Open Science.
    2. Luis Gamboa & Blanca Zuluaga, 2013. "Is There a Motherhood Penalty? Decomposing the Family Wage Gap in Colombia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 421-434, December.
    3. Petreski, Marjan. & Mojsoska-Blazevski, Nikica., 2015. "The gender and motherhood wage gap in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia : an econometric analysis," ILO Working Papers 994895293402676, International Labour Organization.
    4. Tarja Viitanen, 2014. "The motherhood wage gap in the UK over the life cycle," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 259-276, June.
    5. Felfe, Christina, 2012. "The motherhood wage gap: What about job amenities?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-67.
    6. Christina Felfe, 2008. "The Child Penalty - What about Job Amenities?," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-22, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    motherhood wage gap; non-wage compensation; health insurance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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