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The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark

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  • Halla, Martin
  • Ahammer, Alexander
  • Glogowsky, Ulrich
  • Hener, Timo

Abstract

Using Austrian and Danish administrative data, we examine the impacts of parenthood on mental health equality. Parenthood imposes a greater mental health burden on mothers than on fathers. It creates a long-run gender gap in antidepressant prescriptions of about 93.2% (Austria) and 64.8% (Denmark). Further evidence suggests that these parenthood penalties in mental health are unlikely to reflect differential help-seeking behavior across the sexes or the biological effects of giving birth to a child. Instead, they seem to mirror the psychological effects of having, raising, and investing in children. Supporting this interpretation, matched adoptive mothers (who do not experience the biological impacts of childbirth) also encounter substantial parenthood penalties. Moreover, mothers who invest more in childcare (by taking extended maternity leave in quasi-experimental settings) are more likely to face mental health problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Halla, Martin & Ahammer, Alexander & Glogowsky, Ulrich & Hener, Timo, 2024. "The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 359, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wus005:61210078
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    Cited by:

    1. Nora Bearth, 2024. "Beyond Baby Blues: The Child Penalty in Mental Health in Switzerland," Papers 2410.20861, arXiv.org.
    2. Martin Halla & Andrea Weber, 2024. "Persistent Low Inequality Despite Compositional Shifts in Austria," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp367, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    3. Marina Krauß & Niklas Rott, 2024. "Early Childcare Expansion and Maternal Health," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1208, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Dehos, Fabian T. & Paul, Marie & Schäfer, Wiebke & Süß, Karolin, 2024. "Time of Change: Health Effects of Motherhood," IZA Discussion Papers 16942, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Barschkett, M.; & Bosque-Mercader, L.;, 2024. "Building Health across Generations: Childbirth, Childcare and Maternal Health," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 24/08, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender equality; fertility; parenthood; motherhood; mental health; parental leave;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • 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

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