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The Motherhood Wage Penalty in a Mediterranean Country: The Case of Spain

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  • Molina, José Alberto

    () (University of Zaragoza)

  • Montuenga, Víctor M.

    () (University of Zaragoza)

Abstract

We present evidence for the motherhood wage penalty in Spain as a representative Southern European Mediterranean country. We use the European Community Household Panel (ECHP, 1994-2001) to estimate, from both pool and fixed-effects methods, a wage equation in terms of observed variables and other non-observed individual characteristics. The empirical results confirm that there is clear evidence of a wage penalty for Spanish working women with children. Specifically, the fact that there is a birth in the family during the current year means that the woman loses 9% of her wage. We also find that having one child living in the household means a significant loss in wages of 6%, having two children, almost 14%, and having three or more, more than 15%.

Suggested Citation

  • Molina, José Alberto & Montuenga, Víctor M., 2008. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty in a Mediterranean Country: The Case of Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 3574, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3574
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    Cited by:

    1. Ana Yetano & Sonia Royo & Basisilo Acerete, 2009. "What is driving the increasing presence of citizen participation initiatives?," Documentos de Trabajo dt2009-02, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Zaragoza.
    2. Raúl Serrano & Vicente Pinilla, 2014. "New directions of trade for the agri-food industry: a disaggregated approach for different income countries, 1963–2000," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 23(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Natividad Blasco & Pilar Corredor & Sandra Ferreruela, 2009. "Detecting intentional herding: what lies beneath intraday data in the spanish stock market," Documentos de Trabajo dt2009-01, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Zaragoza.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    fixed-effects estimation; motherhood wage penalty; Spain;

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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