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Motherhood and Earnings: Wage Variability by Major Occupational Category and Earnings Level

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  • Christian Nsiah
  • Ron DeBeaumont
  • Annette Ryerson

Abstract

Prior research has indicated that women with children earn less than their childless counterparts. In addition, recent research has found that the motherhood wage penalty may be most severe for low-income earners. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979), we test two hypotheses. First, are there occupational differences in the motherhood wage penalty? Second, are there occupational differences in the relative wage penalty experienced by low and high wage mothers? Our results indicated that mothers in sales occupations are penalized at a significantly higher rate than mothers in non-sales occupations, while mothers in blue-collar occupations were penalized the least. Furthermore, the wage cost of motherhood was greatest amongst the highest earners in sales occupations. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

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  • Christian Nsiah & Ron DeBeaumont & Annette Ryerson, 2013. "Motherhood and Earnings: Wage Variability by Major Occupational Category and Earnings Level," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 224-234, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:34:y:2013:i:2:p:224-234
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-012-9323-2
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sheree Gibb & David Fergusson & L. Horwood & Joseph Boden, 2014. "The Effects of Parenthood on Workforce Participation and Income for Men and Women," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 14-26, March.
    3. Elizabeth Dolan & Elena Stancanelli, 2021. "Women’s Employment, Wages, and the Household," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 101-106, July.
    4. Charlotta Magnusson & Magnus Nermo, 2017. "Gender, Parenthood and Wage Differences: The Importance of Time-Consuming Job Characteristics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 797-816, March.
    5. Derek T. Tharp & Elizabeth J. Parks-Stamm & Meghaan Lurtz & Michael Kitces, 2022. "Exploring Gender Differences in Marital and Parental Income Premiums Among Financial Advisors," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 15-35, March.
    6. Shichao Du, 2023. "Childbearing Risk, Job Sectors, and the Motherhood Wage Penalty," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-19, April.

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