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How Much Do Work Interruptions Reduce Mothers’ Wages?

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Abstract

Women experience large and persistent declines in earnings after having children, which in part reflects fewer hours worked while children are young. Recent studies of large policy-induced changes in mothers’ work experience in the 1990s quantify the impact of avoiding lengthy work interruptions after childbirth. The analysis shows that mothers who return to work a year sooner after childbirth earn 5-6% higher wages 10 to 20 years later. Thus, policies that encourage mothers’ return to work can lead to large improvements in their lifetime earnings.

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  • Na’ama Shenhav, 2023. "How Much Do Work Interruptions Reduce Mothers’ Wages?," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, vol. 2023(25), pages 1-6, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedfel:97051
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    1. Bruce D. Meyer & Dan T. Rosenbaum, 2001. "Welfare, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Labor Supply of Single Mothers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(3), pages 1063-1114.
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    1. Deepika Baskar Prabhakar & Sabrina J. Considine & Brandon E. Miskanic & Nicolas Petrosky-Nadeau, 2025. "What’s Driving Labor Force Participation Among Women?," FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, vol. 2025(04), pages 1-5, February.

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