IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/107556.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does biology drive child penalties? Evidence from biological and adoptive families

Author

Listed:
  • Kleven, Henrik Jacobsen
  • Landais, Camille
  • Søgaard, Jakob Egholt

Abstract

This paper investigates whether the impact of children on the labor market outcomes of women relative to men—child penalties—can be explained by the biological links between mother and child. We estimate child penalties in biological and adoptive families using event studies around the arrival of children and almost 40 years of adoption data from Denmark. Short-run child penalties are slightly larger for biological mothers than for adoptive mothers, but their long-run child penalties are virtually identical and precisely estimated. This suggests that biology is not a key driver of child-related gender gaps.

Suggested Citation

  • Kleven, Henrik Jacobsen & Landais, Camille & Søgaard, Jakob Egholt, 2021. "Does biology drive child penalties? Evidence from biological and adoptive families," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107556, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:107556
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/107556/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation in High-Income Countries," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 205-230, Winter.
    2. Bertrand, Marianne, 2011. "New Perspectives on Gender," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 17, pages 1543-1590, Elsevier.
    3. Rafael Lalive & Analía Schlosser & Andreas Steinhauer & Josef Zweimüller, 2014. "Parental Leave and Mothers' Careers: The Relative Importance of Job Protection and Cash Benefits," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 219-265.
    4. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2016. "The Evolution of Gender Gaps in Industrialized Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 405-434, October.
    5. Kleven, Henrik & Landais, Camille & Posch, Johanna & Steinhauer, Andreas & Zweimüller, Josef, 2020. "Do Family Policies Reduce Gender Inequality? Evidence from 60 Years of Policy Experimentation," CEPR Discussion Papers 15437, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Maya Rossin‐Slater & Christopher J. Ruhm & Jane Waldfogel, 2013. "The Effects of California's Paid Family Leave Program on Mothers’ Leave‐Taking and Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 224-245, March.
    7. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2019. "Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 181-209, October.
    8. Ilyana Kuziemko & Jessica Pan & Jenny Shen & Ebonya Washington, 2018. "The Mommy Effect: Do Women Anticipate the Employment Effects of Motherhood?," NBER Working Papers 24740, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Ilyana Kuziemko & Jessica Pan & Jenny Shen & Ebonya Washington, 2018. "The Mommy Effect: Do women anticipate the employment effects of motherhood?," Working Papers 2018-6, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    10. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Johanna Posch & Andreas Steinhauer & Josef Zweimüller, 2019. "Child Penalties across Countries: Evidence and Explanations," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 122-126, May.
    11. Marianne Bertrand & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2010. "Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 228-255, July.
    12. Gordon B. Dahl & Katrine V. Løken & Magne Mogstad & Kari Vea Salvanes, 2016. "What Is the Case for Paid Maternity Leave?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(4), pages 655-670, October.
    13. Andreas Fagereng & Magne Mogstad & Marte Rønning, 2021. "Why Do Wealthy Parents Have Wealthy Children?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(3), pages 703-756.
    14. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais, 2017. "Gender Inequality and Economic Development: Fertility, Education and Norms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 84(334), pages 180-209, April.
    15. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2016. "The Evolution of Gender Gaps in Industrialized Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 405-434, October.
    16. Nikolay Angelov & Per Johansson & Erica Lindahl, 2016. "Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Pay," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(3), pages 545-579.
    17. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2017. "The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation," Working Papers 811, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    18. Emily Nix & Martin Eckhoff Andresen, 2019. "What Causes the Child Penalty? Evidence from Same Sex Couples and Policy Reforms," Discussion Papers 902, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    19. Uta Schönberg & Johannes Ludsteck, 2014. "Expansions in Maternity Leave Coverage and Mothers' Labor Market Outcomes after Childbirth," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(3), pages 469-505.
    20. Kleven, Henrik & Landais, Camille, 2017. "Gender inequality and economic development: fertility, education and norms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 72388, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, 2009. "How Does Parental Leave Affect Fertility and Return to Work? Evidence from Two Natural Experiments," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 124(3), pages 1363-1402.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li, Jiaqi, 2021. "Racial Difference in Child Penalty," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1382, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    2. de la Vega, Noa, 2022. "The differential effect of childbirth on men's and women's careers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Artmann, Elisabeth & Oosterbeek, Hessel & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2022. "Household specialization and the child penalty in the Netherlands," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Oreffice, Sonia & Sansone, Dario, 2022. "Commuting to Work and Gender-Conforming Social Norms: Evidence from Same-Sex Couples," IZA Discussion Papers 15332, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Bazen, Stephen & Joutard, Xavier & Périvier, Hélène, 2021. "Measuring the Child Penalty Early in a Career: The Case of Young Adults in France," IZA Discussion Papers 14763, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Stephen Bazen & Xavier Joutard & Hélène Périvier, 2021. "Measuring the Child Penalty Early in a Career," Working Papers hal-03451099, HAL.
    7. Stern, Charlotta & Madison, Guy, 2022. "Sex differences and occupational choice Theorizing for policy informed by behavioral science✰," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 694-702.
    8. Albanese, Andrea & Nieto, Adrián & Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 2022. "Job Location Decisions and the Effect of Children on the Employment Gender Gap," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1113, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Krapf, Matthias & Roth, Anja & Slotwinski, Michaela, 2020. "The effect of childcare on parental earnings trajectories," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-050, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Inés Berniell & Lucila Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & María Edo & Yarine Fawaz & Matilde P. Machado & Mariana Marchionni, 2020. "Motherhood and the Allocation of Talent," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0270, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    11. Jon H. Fiva & Max-Emil M. King, 2022. "Child Penalties in Politics," CESifo Working Paper Series 9611, CESifo.
    12. Moberg, Ylva & van der Vleuten , Maaike, 2022. "Mothers’ birth giving status and the division of parental leave. A comparison of adoptive and biological parents," Working Paper Series 2022:18, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    13. Duchini, Emma & Van Effenterre, Clémentine, 2020. "School Schedule and the Gender Pay Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 13791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Nieto, Adrián, 2021. "Native-immigrant differences in the effect of children on the gender pay gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 654-680.
    15. Jessen, Jonas, 2022. "Culture, children and couple gender inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    16. Peter Ganong & Pascal J. Noel, 2020. "Why Do Borrowers Default on Mortgages?," NBER Working Papers 27585, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Peter Ganong & Pascal J. Noel, 2020. "Why Do Borrowers Default on Mortgages? A New Method For Causal Attribution," Working Papers 2020-100, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Johanna Posch & Andreas Steinhauer & Josef Zweimüller, 2021. "Do Family Policies Reduce Gender Inequality? Evidence from 60 Years of Policy Experimentation," Working Papers 2021-62, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    2. Sarah H. Bana & Kelly Bedard & Maya Rossin‐Slater, 2020. "The Impacts of Paid Family Leave Benefits: Regression Kink Evidence from California Administrative Data," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(4), pages 888-929, September.
    3. Nieto, Adrián, 2021. "Native-immigrant differences in the effect of children on the gender pay gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 654-680.
    4. Corekcioglu, Gozde & Francesconi, Marco & Kunze, Astrid, 2020. "Do Generous Parental Leave Policies Help Top Female Earners?," IZA Discussion Papers 13275, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Cortes, Patricia & Pan, Jessica, 2020. "Children and the Remaining Gender Gaps in the Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 13759, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Petrongolo, Barbara & Ronchi, Maddalena, 2020. "Gender gaps and the structure of local labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Canaan, Serena, 2022. "Parental leave, household specialization and children’s well-being," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    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. Jonas Jessen, 2021. "Culture, Children and Couple Gender Inequality," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1957, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Simon Rabaté & Sara Rellstab, 2022. "What Determines the Child Penalty in the Netherlands? The Role of Policy and Norms," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 195-229, May.
    11. Roman Bobilev & Anne Boschini & Jesper Roine, 2020. "Women in the Top of the Income Distribution: What Can We Learn From LIS-Data?," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 6(1), pages 63-107, March.
    12. Inés Berniell & Lucila Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & María Edo & Yarine Fawaz & Matilde P. Machado & Mariana Marchionni, 2020. "Motherhood and the Allocation of Talent," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0270, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    13. Canaan, Serena, 2019. "Parental Leave, Household Specialization and Children's Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 12420, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Lalive, Rafael, 2021. "Mothers at Work: How Mandating Paid Maternity Leave Affects Employment, Earnings and Fertility," CEPR Discussion Papers 16418, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Doerr, Annabelle, 2022. "Vocational Training for Female Job Returners - Effects on Employment, Earnings and Job Quality," Working papers 2022/02, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    16. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2019. "Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 181-209, October.
    17. Doerr, Annabelle, 2022. "Vocational training for female job returners - Effects on employment, earnings and job quality," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    18. Brenøe, Anne Ardila & Canaan, Serena & Harmon, Nikolaj & Royer, Heather, 2019. "Is Parental Leave Costly for Firms and Coworkers?," IZA Discussion Papers 12870, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Julia Hatamyar, 2022. "Workplace Breastfeeding Legislation and Labor Market Outcomes," Papers 2209.05916, arXiv.org.
    20. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2021. "Behind the Child Penalty: Understanding What Contributes to the Labour Market Costs of Motherhood," CESifo Working Paper Series 9155, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:107556. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.