IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ifs/ifsewp/26-06.html

Postpartum depression and the motherhood penalty

Author

Listed:
  • Sonia Bhalotra

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies)

  • N. Meltem Daysal

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Louis Fréget

    (Paris-Dauphine PSL University)

  • Jonas Cuzulan Hirani

    (VIVE)

  • Priyama Majumdar

    (University of Warwick)

  • Mircea Trandafir

    (Rockwool Foundation)

  • Miriam Wüst

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Tom Zohar

    (CEMFI)

Abstract

Using Danish administrative data linked to two independent, validated postpartum depression screenings, we study how postpartum mental health shocks shape women’s labor market trajectories. Event-study estimates show no pre-birth differences in trends between depressed and non-depressed mothers, but persistent employment gaps that widen immediately after birth. Health-care utilization patterns indicate that these differences reflect acute mental health shocks rather than pre-existing trends. The penalties are concentrated among less educated mothers and those in less family-friendly jobs. Our results highlight postpartum depression as a meaningful and unequal contributor to the motherhood penalty.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Sonia Bhalotra & N. Meltem Daysal & Louis Fréget & Jonas Cuzulan Hirani & Priyama Majumdar & Mircea Trandafir & Miriam Wüst & Tom Zohar, 2026. "Postpartum depression and the motherhood penalty," IFS Working Papers W26/06, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:26/06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/2026-01/WP202606-Postpartum-depression-and-the-motherhood-penalty.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janet Currie & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1495-1532.
    2. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2016. "A Most Egalitarian Profession: Pharmacy and the Evolution of a Family-Friendly Occupation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(3), pages 705-746.
    3. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2007. "Measuring Trends in Leisure: The Allocation of Time Over Five Decades," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 969-1006.
    4. Anand, Priyanka & Dague, Laura & Wagner, Kathryn L., 2022. "The role of paid family leave in labor supply responses to a spouse's disability or health shock," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Itzik Fadlon & Torben Heien Nielsen, 2021. "Family Labor Supply Responses to Severe Health Shocks: Evidence from Danish Administrative Records," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 1-30, July.
    6. Imbens,Guido W. & Rubin,Donald B., 2015. "Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885881, January.
    7. Janet Currie & Esmée Zwiers, 2025. "Medication of Postpartum Depression and Maternal Outcomes: Evidence from Geographic Variation in Dutch Prescribing," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 60(4), pages 1093-1125.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Firouzi Naeim, Peyman & Johnston, David W. & Naghsh Nejad, Maryam, 2025. "Balancing Work and Care: How Workplace Factors Can Mitigate the Gendered Impacts of Caregiving," IZA Discussion Papers 17850, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Juergen Jung & Vinish Shrestha, 2018. "The Affordable Care Act And College Enrollment Decisions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(4), pages 1980-2009, October.
    3. Fu, Liping & Wang, Ruizhen & He, Chaoying, 2025. "Gender differences in later life: Labor supply responses to spousal disability," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    4. Andrew Baker & Brantly Callaway & Scott Cunningham & Andrew Goodman-Bacon & Pedro H. C. Sant'Anna, 2025. "Difference-in-Differences Designs: A Practitioner's Guide," Papers 2503.13323, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2025.
    5. Böckerman, Petri & Kortelainen, Mika & Salokangas, Henri & Vaalavuo, Maria, 2023. "Family Affair? Long-Term Economic and Mental Effects of Spousal Cancer," IZA Discussion Papers 16005, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Vinish Shrestha & Rashesh Shrestha, 2023. "The Combined Role of Subsidy and Discussion Intervention in the Demand for a Stigmatized Product," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(4), pages 675-705.
    7. Petri Böckerman & Mika Kortelainen & Henri Salokangas & Maria Vaalavuo, 2025. "A family affair? Long-term economic and mental health effects of spousal cancer," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-30, March.
    8. Benjamin Artz, 2024. "Are Mothers More Likely Than Fathers to Lose Their jobs?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 528-545, September.
    9. Cozzi, Guido & Francesconi, Marco & Lundberg, Shelly & Mantovan, Noemi & Sauer, Robert M., 2018. "Advancing the economics of gender: New insights and a roadmap for the future," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 1-8.
    10. Dimitris Bertsimas & Agni Orfanoudaki & Rory B. Weiner, 2020. "Personalized treatment for coronary artery disease patients: a machine learning approach," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 482-506, December.
    11. Benjamin Sosnaud, 2024. "Decomposition analysis of disparities in infant mortality rates across 27 US states," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 50(40), pages 1185-1222.
    12. Katrin Huber & Geske Rolvering, 2023. "Public child care and mothers’ career trajectories," Working Papers 228, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    13. John C. Bluedorn & Elizabeth U. Cascio, 2005. "Education and Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Purerto Rico," Economics Papers 2005-W21, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    14. Foliano, Francesca & Tonei, Valentina & Sevilla, Almudena, 2024. "Social restrictions, leisure and well-being," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    15. Frances McGinnity & Emma Calvert, 2008. "Yuppie Kvetch? Work-life Conflict and Social Class in Western Europe," Papers WP239, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    16. Bruno Ferman & Cristine Pinto & Vitor Possebom, 2020. "Cherry Picking with Synthetic Controls," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 510-532, March.
    17. Okada, Keisuke, 2012. "The effects of female HIV/AIDS status on fertility and child health in Cambodia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 560-570.
    18. Peydró, José-Luis & Jiménez, Gabriel & Kenan, Huremovic & Moral-Benito, Enrique & Vega-Redondo, Fernando, 2020. "Production and financial networks in interplay: Crisis evidence from supplier-customer and credit registers," CEPR Discussion Papers 15277, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Maria J. Prados & Stefania Albanesi, 2011. "Inequality and Household Labor Supply," 2011 Meeting Papers 657, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    20. Hairu Wang & Yukun Liu & Haiying Zhou, 2025. "Score test for unconfoundedness under a logistic treatment assignment model," Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Springer;The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, vol. 77(4), pages 517-533, August.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • 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:ifs:ifsewp:26/06. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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: Emma Hyman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifsssuk.html .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.