Labor market downward transition of Italian couples after childbirth

This study explores how childbirth differently shapes the career trajectories of men and women within the same couples, with a particular focus on gender disparities in experiencing downward labor transitions following the birth of their first child. Using a unique survey-administrative linked dataset, we track couples’ labor market trajectories to analyze transitions from employment to unemployment, full-time to part-time employment, and higher-paid to lower-paid jobs. Additionally, the dataset allows us to link partners, enabling the study of factors influencing differences in the probabilities of downward labor market transitions between partners in the same household. Our findings reveal substantial and persistent penalties for women, lasting up to three years after childbirth, which are mainly related to part-time job arrangements. When examining differences in probabilities within couples, households in which women have tertiary education with respect to their partners and are the primary earners exhibit smaller gender disparities in the likelihood of downward labor transitions with respect to other households.