IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp16557.html

Does the Child Penalty Strike Twice, and If So Why?

Author

Listed:
  • Gørtz, Mette

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Sander, Sarah

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Sevilla, Almudena

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper compares the labor market impact of grandparents before and after the arrival of the first grandchild. We show that grandmothers' labor market outcomes decline more steeply than grandfathers' after the first grandchild's arrival, leading to a 4-10 percent gender earnings gap 5-10 years later. The child penalty is shifted across generations to grandmothers with low education, but daycare availability only affects child penalties. Gender biases towards older women's work are a contributing factor to the disparity in earnings between grandmothers and grandfathers after the arrival of the first grandchild.

Suggested Citation

  • Gørtz, Mette & Sander, Sarah & Sevilla, Almudena, 2023. "Does the Child Penalty Strike Twice, and If So Why?," IZA Discussion Papers 16557, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16557
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp16557.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jérôme Adda & Christian Dustmann & Katrien Stevens, 2017. "The Career Costs of Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(2), pages 293-337.
    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. 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.
    4. Meng, Lingsheng & Zhang, Yunbin & Zou, Ben, 2023. "The motherhood penalty in China: Magnitudes, trends, and the role of grandparenting," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 105-132.
    5. Wang, Ying & Marcotte, Dave E., 2007. "Golden Years? The Labor Market Effects of Caring for Grandchildren," IZA Discussion Papers 2629, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Johanna Posch & Andreas Steinhauer & Josef Zweimüller, 2024. "Do Family Policies Reduce Gender Inequality? Evidence from 60 Years of Policy Experimentation," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 110-149, May.
    7. Francesca Zanasi & Inge Sieben & Wilfred Uunk, 2020. "Work history, economic resources, and women’s labour market withdrawal after the birth of the first grandchild," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 109-118, March.
    8. Simone Moriconi & Núria Rodriguez-Planas & Núria Rodríguez-Planas, 2021. "Gender Norms and the Motherhood Employment Gap," CESifo Working Paper Series 9471, CESifo.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Daniela Del Boca, 2002. "The effect of child care and part time opportunities on participation and fertility decisions in Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(3), pages 549-573.
    12. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    13. Claudia Goldin & Sari Pekkala Kerr & Claudia Olivetti, 2022. "When the Kids Grow Up: Women's Employment and Earnings across the Family Cycle," NBER Working Papers 30323, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2017. "Maternity and Family Leave Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 10500, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Rupert, Peter & Zanella, Giulio, 2018. "Grandchildren and their grandparents' labor supply," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 89-103.
    16. Bingley, Paul & Lanot, Gauthier, 2007. "Public pension programmes and the retirement of married couples in Denmark," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(10), pages 1878-1901, November.
    17. Elena Stancanelli & Arthur Van Soest, 2012. "Retirement and Home Production: A Regression Discontinuity Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 600-605, May.
    18. Claudia Goldin, 2014. "A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1091-1119, April.
    19. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Gabriel Leite-Mariante, 2023. "The Child Penalty Atlas," Working Papers 2023-16, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    20. Datta Gupta, Nabanita & Simonsen, Marianne, 2010. "Non-cognitive child outcomes and universal high quality child care," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1-2), pages 30-43, February.
    21. Sieppi, Antti & Pehkonen, Jaakko, 2019. "Parenthood and gender inequality: Population-based evidence on the child penalty in Finland," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 5-9.
    22. Gema Zamarro, 2020. "Family labor participation and child care decisions: the role of grannies," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 287-312, September.
    23. Backhaus, Andreas & Barslund, Mikkel, 2021. "The effect of grandchildren on grandparental labor supply: Evidence from Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    24. Massimiliano Bratti & Tommaso Frattini & Francesco Scervini, 2018. "Grandparental availability for child care and maternal labor force participation: pension reform evidence from Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1239-1277, October.
    25. Martin Eckhoff Andresen & Emily Nix, 2022. "What Causes the Child Penalty? Evidence from Adopting and Same-Sex Couples," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(4), pages 971-1004.
    26. Sencer Karademir & Jean-William Laliberté & Stefan Staubli, 2026. "The Multigenerational Impact of Children and Childcare Policies," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 189-227.
    27. Havnes, Tarjei & Mogstad, Magne, 2011. "Money for nothing? Universal child care and maternal employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1455-1465.
    28. 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.
    29. Browning, Martin, 1992. "Children and Household Economic Behavior," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 1434-1475, September.
    30. 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.
    31. 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.
    32. Martin Browning & Olivier Donni & Mette Gørtz, 2021. "Do you have time to take a walk together? Private and joint time within the household," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(635), pages 1051-1080.
    33. Maya Rossin-Slater, 2017. "Maternity and Family Leave Policy," NBER Working Papers 23069, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Gørtz, Mette & Sander, Sarah & Sevilla, Almudena, 2025. "Does the child penalty strike twice?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    2. Huber, Katrin & Rolvering, Geske, 2023. "Public Child Care and Mothers' Career Trajectories," IZA Discussion Papers 16433, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Katrin Huber & Geske Rolvering, 2023. "Public child care and mothers’ career trajectories," Working Papers 228, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    4. Corekcioglu, Gozde & Francesconi, Marco & Kunze, Astrid, 2024. "Expansions in paid parental leave and mothers’ economic progress," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    5. Moroni, Gloria & Nicoletti, Cheti & Salvanes, Kjell Gunnar & Tominey, Emma, 2025. "Gender equality through marriage," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 20/2025, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    6. repec:ucl:cepeow:25-16 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Céline Piton, 2022. "The labour market performance of vulnerable groups: towards a better understanding of the main driving forces," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/352519, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. 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.
    9. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Dang, Tung & Fisher, Hayley, 2025. "Daycare Accessibility and Maternal Labor Market Outcomes: Do Quality Ratings Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 18300, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Fortin, Nicole M. & Bell, Brian & Böhm, Michael, 2017. "Top earnings inequality and the gender pay gap: Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 107-123.
    11. 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.
    12. Petrongolo, Barbara & Ronchi, Maddalena, 2020. "Gender gaps and the structure of local labor markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    13. Francesca Barigozzi & Helmuth Cremer & Emmanuel Thibault, 2024. "The motherhood wage and income traps," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-26, December.
    14. Inés Berniell & Lucila Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & María Edo & Yarine Fawaz & Matilde P. Machado & Mariana Marchionni, 2025. "Motherhood and the allocation of talent," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(44), pages 7073-7089, September.
    15. Eva Österbacka & Tapio Räsänen, 2025. "The Importance of Self-Selection and Childcare Leave Length for Child Penalty," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 41(1), pages 1-31, December.
    16. Ivandić, Ria & Lassen, Anne Sophie, 2023. "Gender gaps from labor market shocks," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119948, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Ivandić, Ria & Lassen, Anne Sophie, 2023. "Gender gaps from labor market shocks," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    18. Patricia Cortés & Jessica Pan, 2023. "Children and the Remaining Gender Gaps in the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(4), pages 1359-1409, December.
    19. Sara Rellstab, 2024. "Gender norms and the child penalty: evidence from the Dutch bible belt," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(45), pages 5428-5441, September.
    20. Simon Rabaté & Externe auteur: Sara Rellstab, 2021. "The Child Penalty in the Netherlands and its Determinants," CPB Discussion Paper 424, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    21. Glogowsky, Ulrich & Hansen, Emanuel & Sachs, Dominik & Lüthen, Holger, 2025. "The evolution of child-related gender inequality in Germany and the role of family policies, 1960–2018," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp16557. 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: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.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.