IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/labeco/v19y2012i1p59-67.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The motherhood wage gap: What about job amenities?

Author

Listed:
  • Felfe, Christina

Abstract

Women with children tend to earn lower hourly wages than women without children — a shortfall known as the ‘motherhood wage gap’. While many studies provide evidence for this empirical fact and explore several hypotheses about its causes, the impact of motherhood on job dimensions other than wages has scarcely been investigated. In order to assess changes in women's jobs around motherhood, I use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and employ a first difference analysis. The results reveal that women when having children accommodate at their original employer primarily through adjustments in working hours. Yet, when changing the employer women adjust their jobs in several dimensions, such as different aspects of the work schedule (working hours, work at night or according to a flexible schedule) as well as the level of stress. Further analysis provides some limited support for the motherhood wage gap being explained by adjustments in the work conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Felfe, Christina, 2012. "The motherhood wage gap: What about job amenities?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-67.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:19:y:2012:i:1:p:59-67
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2011.06.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537111000777
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.labeco.2011.06.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deborah J. Anderson & Melissa Binder & Kate Krause, 2002. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: Which Mothers Pay It and Why?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 354-358, May.
    2. Mincer, Jacob & Polachek, Solomon, 1974. "Family Investment in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(2), pages 76-108, Part II, .
    3. Kevin Lang & Sumon Majumdar, 2004. "The Pricing Of Job Characteristics When Markets Do Not Clear: Theory And Policy Implications," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 45(4), pages 1111-1128, November.
    4. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 1995. "Selection corrections for panel data models under conditional mean independence assumptions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 115-132, July.
    5. Mette Ejrnæs & Astrid Kunze, 2002. "Wage dips and drops around the first birth," 10th International Conference on Panel Data, Berlin, July 5-6, 2002 C2-4, International Conferences on Panel Data.
    6. Miriam Beblo & Stefan Bender & Elke Wolf, 2009. "Establishment-level wage effects of entering motherhood," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 61(suppl_1), pages 11-34, April.
    7. Becker, Gary S, 1985. "Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 33-58, January.
    8. Ernesto Villanueva, 2007. "Estimating Compensating Wage Differentials Using Voluntary Job Changes: Evidence from Germany," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(4), pages 544-561, July.
    9. Christina Felfe, 2008. "The Child Penalty - What about Job Amenities?," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-22, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    10. Beblo, Miriam & Wolf, Elke, 2000. "How much does a year off cost? Estimating the wage effects of employment breaks and part-time periods," ZEW Discussion Papers 00-69, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    11. Massimiliano Bratti & Emilia Del Bono & Daniela Vuri, 2005. "New Mothers’ Labour Force Participation in Italy: The Role of Job Characteristics," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 19(s1), pages 79-121, December.
    12. Helena Skyt Nielsen & Marianne Simonsen & Mette Verner, 2004. "Does the Gap in Family‐friendly Policies Drive the Family Gap?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(4), pages 721-744, December.
    13. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Kimmel, Jean, 2008. "New Evidence on the Motherhood Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 3662, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Hwang, Hae-shin & Mortensen, Dale T & Reed, W Robert, 1998. "Hedonic Wages and Labor Market Search," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(4), pages 815-847, October.
    15. Lundberg, Shelly & Rose, Elaina, 2000. "Parenthood and the earnings of married men and women," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 689-710, November.
    16. Joshi, Heather & Paci, Pierella & Waldfogel, Jane, 1999. "The Wages of Motherhood: Better or Worse?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(5), pages 543-564, September.
    17. Jane Waldfogel, 1998. "Understanding the "Family Gap" in Pay for Women with Children," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 137-156, Winter.
    18. Shelley Phipps & Peter Burton & Lynn Lethbridge, 2001. "In and out of the labour market: long‐term income consequences of child‐related interruptions to women's paid work," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(2), pages 411-429, May.
    19. Duncan, Greg J & Holmlund, Bertil, 1983. "Was Adam Smith Right after All? Another Test of the Theory of Compensating Wage Differentials," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(4), pages 366-379, October.
    20. Thomas DeLeire & Helen Levy, 2004. "Worker Sorting and the Risk of Death on the Job," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(4), pages 925-954, October.
    21. Lucas, Robert E B, 1977. "Hedonic Wage Equations and Psychic Wages in the Returns to Schooling," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(4), pages 549-558, September.
    22. Susan Harkness & Jane Waldfogel, 1999. "The Family Gap in Pay: Evidence from Seven Industrialised Countries," CASE Papers 030, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    23. repec:bla:econom:v:69:y:2002:i:276:p:609-29 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Jane Waldfogel & Susan Harkness, 1999. "The Family Gap in Pay: Evidence from Seven Industrialized Countries," LIS Working papers 219, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    25. Waldfogel, Jane, 1998. "The Family Gap for Young Women in the United States and Britain: Can Maternity Leave Make a Difference?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(3), pages 505-545, July.
    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. Molina, José Alberto & Montuenga, Víctor M., 2008. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty in a Mediterranean Country: The Case of Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 3574, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Kunze, Astrid, 2014. "The family gap in career progression," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 29/2014, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    3. Gafni Dalit & Siniver Erez, 2018. "The Motherhood Penalty: Is It a Wage-Dependent Family Decision?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(4), pages 1-18, October.
    4. José Molina & Víctor Montuenga, 2009. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty in Spain," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 237-251, September.
    5. Nizalova, Olena Y. & Sliusarenko, Tamara & Shpak, Solomiya, 2016. "The motherhood wage penalty in times of transition," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 56-75.
    6. Gafni Dalit & Siniver Erez, 2015. "Is There a Motherhood Wage Penalty for Highly Skilled Women?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(3), pages 1353-1380, July.
    7. Luis Gamboa & Blanca Zuluaga, 2013. "Is There a Motherhood Penalty? Decomposing the Family Wage Gap in Colombia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 421-434, December.
    8. Cadsby, C. Bram & Servátka, Maroš & Song, Fei, 2013. "How competitive are female professionals? A tale of identity conflict," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 284-303.
    9. Christina Felfe, 2012. "The Willingness to Pay for Job Amenities: Evidence from Mothers' Return to Work," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(2), pages 427-454, April.
    10. Anna Jędrzychowska & Ilona Kwiecień & Ewa Poprawska, 2020. "The Motherhood Pension Gap in a Defined Contribution Pension Scheme—the Case of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Sara Cools & Marte Strøm, 2016. "Parenthood wage penalties in a double income society," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 391-416, June.
    12. Mette Ejrnæs & Astrid Kunze, 2002. "Wage dips and drops around the first birth," 10th International Conference on Panel Data, Berlin, July 5-6, 2002 C2-4, International Conferences on Panel Data.
    13. Astrid Kunze, 2017. "Types of absence from work and wages of young workers with apprenticeship training," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 51(1), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Zhang, Xuelin, 2008. "The Post-childbirth Employment of Canadian Mothers and the Earnings Trajectories of Their Continuously Employed Counterparts, 1983 to 2004," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2008314e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    15. Arnaud Dupuy & Daniel Fernandez-Kranz, 2011. "International differences in the family gap in pay: the role of labour market institutions," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 413-438.
    16. Chloé Duvivier & Mathieu Narcy, 2015. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty and Its Determinants: A Public–Private Comparison," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(4), pages 415-443, December.
    17. Buligescu, B. & de Crombrugghe, D.P.I. & Mentesoglu, G. & Montizaan, R.M., 2008. "Estimating the wage penalty for maternal leave," ROA Research Memorandum 005, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    18. Zhang, Xuelin, 2008. "Emploi des meres canadiennes apres la naissance d'un enfant et trajectoires des gains de leurs homologues occupees de facon continue, 1983 a 2004," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 2008314f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    19. Tarja Viitanen, 2014. "The motherhood wage gap in the UK over the life cycle," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 259-276, June.
    20. Ebru Caglayan-Akay & Fulden Komuryakan, 2024. "Gender Wage Gap Among Couples and the Role of Parenthood Across the Wage Distribution in Turkey," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 21-34, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Motherhood wage gap; Compensating wage differentials;

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods

    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:eee:labeco:v:19:y:2012:i:1:p:59-67. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/labeco .

    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.