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The Search for Parental Leave and the Early-Career Gender Wage Gap

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  • Ilaria D'Angelis

Abstract

Gender differences in preferences for parental leave contribute to the early-career growth in the gender wage gap among highly educated millennial Americans. Estimating a hedonic job-search model, I show that, while both men and women experience wage growth by entering firms offering better pay and benefits, the wage gap increases as women accept lower wages upon receiving job offers from employers providing parental leave. The wage-gap growth could decline by 60% if preferences for paid parental leave did not differ by gender. It could also decline if mandating and subsidizing the provision of paid leave muted workers’ leave-wage trade-off.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilaria D'Angelis, 2024. "The Search for Parental Leave and the Early-Career Gender Wage Gap," Working Papers 2023-01, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:mab:wpaper:2023-01
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender wage gap; non-wage benefits; paid parental leave; unpaid parental leave; job search; early careers.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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