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Motherhood and the Gender Productivity Gap

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  • Yana Gallen

Abstract

Using Danish matched employer–employee data, I compare the relative pay of men and women to their relative productivity as measured by production function estimation. I find that the gender “productivity gap” is 8%, implying that almost two thirds of the residual gender wage gap is due to productivity differences between men and women. Motherhood plays an important role, yet it also reveals a puzzle: The pay gap for mothers is entirely explained by productivity, whereas the gap for non-mothers is not. In addition, the decoupling of pay and productivity for women without children happens during their prime-child bearing years. These estimates are robust to a variety of specifications for the impact of observables on productivity, and robust to accounting for endogenous sorting of women into less productive firms using a control-function approach. This paper also provides estimates of the productivity gap across industries and occupations, finding the same general patterns for mothers compared to women without children within these subgroups.

Suggested Citation

  • Yana Gallen, 2024. "Motherhood and the Gender Productivity Gap," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1055-1096.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:22:y:2024:i:3:p:1055-1096.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvad064
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonas Jessen & Lavinia Kinne & Michele Battisti, 2024. "Child Penalties in Labour Market Skills," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0052, Berlin School of Economics.
    2. Deole, Sumit S. & Deter, Max & Huang, Yue, 2023. "Home sweet home: Working from home and employee performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Lauren Bari, 2024. "Gendered Divergence in the Impact of Parenthood on Wages: The Role of Family Size, Human Capital and Working Time," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 546-561, September.
    4. Nikolova, Elena & Polansky, Jakub, 2022. "Children and female employment in Mongolia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(3).
    5. Arjun Bedi & Tanmoy Majilla & Matthias Rieger, 2022. "Does signaling childcare support on job applications reduce the motherhood penalty?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 373-387, June.
    6. Titan Alon & Sena Coskun & Matthias Doepke & David Koll & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "From Mancession to Shecession: Women’s Employment in Regular and Pandemic Recessions," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 83-151.
    7. Titan Alon & Matthias Doepke & Jane Olmstead-Rumsey & Michèle Tertilt, 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_163, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    8. Barigozzi, Francesca & Cremer, Helmuth & Roeder, Kerstin, 2018. "Women's career choices, social norms and child care policies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 162-173.
    9. Alon, Titan & Doepke, Matthias & Olmstead-Rumsey, Jane & Tertilt, Michèle, 2020. "This Time It's Different: The Role of Women's Employment in a Pandemic Recession," IZA Discussion Papers 13562, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Cristian Alonso & Mariya Brussevich & Ms. Era Dabla-Norris & Yuko Kinoshita & Ms. Kalpana Kochhar, 2019. "Reducing and Redistributing Unpaid Work: Stronger Policies to Support Gender Equality," IMF Working Papers 2019/225, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Marco Caliendo & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Katrin Huber & Harald Pfeifer & Arne Uhlendorff & Sophie Wagner, 2025. "When Managers Choose: Gender Disparities in Employer Training Provision," CEPA Discussion Papers 90, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Elena Nikolova & Jakub Polansky, 2022. "Children and Female Employment in Mongolia," Working Papers 396, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies).
    13. Donna, Javier D. & Veramendi, Gregory F., 2018. "Gender Differences within the Firm: Evidence from Two Million Travelers," MPRA Paper 92834, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Coskun, Sena & Dalgic, Husnu C., 2024. "The emergence of procyclical fertility: The role of breadwinner women," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    15. Rebecca Jack & Daniel Tannenbaum & Brenden Timpe, 2025. "The Parenthood Gap: Firms and Earnings Inequality After Kids," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 110, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    16. Hamed Pirpour, 2022. "Measuring Taste-Based Employment Discrimination Between Females and Males," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(3), pages 729-745, September.
    17. Eunice S. Han, 2024. "How did the COVID‐19 pandemic affect men's and women's returns to unionization?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 172-204, April.
    18. Masayuki MORIKAWA, 2025. "Female Workers and Firms’ Productivity and Wages," Discussion papers 25008, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    19. Das, Debasmita, 2022. "Child-rearing, Social Security and Married Women’s Labor Supply over the Life Cycle," MPRA Paper 117614, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Sep 2022.
    20. Sharfizie Mohd Sharip & Nur Rasyida Mohd Rashid & Syahrul Bariah Abdul Hamid & Asiah Abdullah & Noor Hidayah Pungot, 2023. "The Work from Home Revolution: WFH Starter Kit," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 15(2), pages 226-237.
    21. Gan, Renren & Jongen, Egbert L. W. & Rabaté, Simon & Terpstra, Bo, 2025. "The Evolution of the Child Penalty and Gender-Related Inequality in the Netherlands, 1989–2022," IZA Discussion Papers 18158, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Cody Cook & Rebecca Diamond & Jonathan V Hall & John A List & Paul Oyer, 2021. "The Gender Earnings Gap in the Gig Economy: Evidence from over a Million Rideshare Drivers [Measuring the Gig Economy: Current Knowledge and Open Issues]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2210-2238.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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