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The Motherhood Training Penalty

Author

Listed:
  • Xiao Ma

  • Alejandro Nakab

  • Camila Navajas-Ahumada

  • Daniela Vidart

Abstract

Women experience slower wage growth than men over their lifetimes, a gap often attributed to the “motherhood wage penalty,” as childbearing reduces earnings. This paper links this penalty to differences in human capital using a pseudo-event study of first childbirth in Europe to document a “motherhood training penalty.” Before parenthood, full-time male and female workers exhibit similar on-the-job training trends, but their trajectories diverge afterward. In the first 1–3 years of parenthood, women are 17%–21% less likely to train, compared to a 1%–5% decline for men. Additional evidence suggests this gap reflects employers’ lower willingness to finance training for mothers, and that it is larger in countries with higher childcare costs and weaker government support for training.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiao Ma & Alejandro Nakab & Camila Navajas-Ahumada & Daniela Vidart, 2026. "The Motherhood Training Penalty," School of Government Working Papers wp_gob_2026_04, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    • Handle: RePEc:udt:wpgobi:wp_gob_2026_04
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    File URL: https://repositorio.utdt.edu/handle/20.500.13098/14257
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • M53 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Training

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