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Is There a Motherhood Wage Penalty in the Finnish Private Sector?

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  • Sami Napari

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of children on women's wages in the Finnish private sector. The paper finds evidence of the motherhood wage penalty, the penalty varying with the length of the child‐related career break. Mothers staying at home no longer than for 2 years face considerably smaller penalties than mothers spending longer periods at home. The negative wage effects of children decrease, however, quickly with time. For example, mothers who experience a career break of 2 years or less do not lag behind non‐mothers in terms of wages after the second year from the return to employment. There is also variation in the motherhood wage penalty across the wage distribution. The penalty is higher at the top of the distribution than in the middle of it, especially in the cases of prolonged child‐related career breaks.

Suggested Citation

  • Sami Napari, 2010. "Is There a Motherhood Wage Penalty in the Finnish Private Sector?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(1), pages 55-73, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:labour:v:24:y:2010:i:1:p:55-73
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9914.2010.00471.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Chloé Duvivier & Mathieu Narcy, 2015. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty and Its Determinants: A Public–Private Comparison," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 415-443, December.
    2. Maya Staub & Thamar Melanie Heijstra, 2022. "“This Would Never be Possible if Not for Our Team Play”: An Analysis of Icelandic Doctorate Earnings from a Gender Perspective," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 565-580, September.
    3. Agnieszka Kasperska, 2022. "Working from Home and Employee Perception of Career Prospects in Europe: the Gender and Family Perspectives," Working Papers 2022-31, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    4. Sirpa Weckström, 2015. "Finnish Mothers’ Assessments of the Harmfulness of Childcare at Home on Occupational Careers: A Comparison of Twelve European Countries," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Margaret Nowak & Marita Naude & Gail Thomas, 2012. "Sustaining Career through Maternity Leave," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 15(3), pages 201-216.
    6. Ma, Xinxin, 2022. "Parenthood and the gender wage gap in urban China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Ainhoa Herrarte & Paloma Urcelay, 2022. "The Wage Penalty for Motherhood in Spain (2009-2017): The Role of the Male Partner’s Job Characteristic," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 241(2), pages 27-57, June.
    8. 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.
    9. Amélie Speiser, 2021. "Back to work: the effect of a long-term career interruption on subsequent wages in Switzerland," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 157(1), pages 1-14, December.

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