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Women’s Short-Term Employment Trajectories Following Birth: Patterns, Determinants, and Variations by Race/Ethnicity and Nativity

Author

Listed:
  • Yao Lu

    (Columbia University)

  • Julia Shu-Huah Wang

    (the University of Hong Kong)

  • Wen-Jui Han

    (New York University)

Abstract

Despite a large literature documenting the impact of childbearing on women’s wages, less understanding exists of the actual employment trajectories that mothers take and the circumstances surrounding different paths. We use sequence analysis to chart the entire employment trajectory for a diverse sample of U.S. women by race/ethnicity and nativity in the first year following childbirth. Using data from the 1996–2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation and sample selection models, we find that women employed before childbirth show a high degree of labor market continuity. However, a notable share of them (24 %) took less stable paths by dropping out or scaling back work. In addition, mothers’ attachment to the labor force is simultaneously supported by personal endowments and family resources yet constrained by economic hardship and job characteristics. Moreover, mothers’ employment patterns differ by race/ethnicity and nativity. Nonwhite women (blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) who were employed before childbirth exhibited greater labor market continuation than white women. For immigrant women, those with a shorter length of residence were more likely to curtail employment than native-born women, but those with longer duration of residence show greater labor force attachment. We discuss the implications of these findings for income inequality and public policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Yao Lu & Julia Shu-Huah Wang & Wen-Jui Han, 2017. "Women’s Short-Term Employment Trajectories Following Birth: Patterns, Determinants, and Variations by Race/Ethnicity and Nativity," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 93-118, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:54:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s13524-016-0541-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-016-0541-3
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    3. Lisa Schulkind & Danielle H. Sandler, 2019. "The Timing of Teenage Births: Estimating the Effect on High School Graduation and Later-Life Outcomes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 345-365, February.
    4. Helena Breth Nielsen & Kathrine Pape & Laura Stonor Gregersen & Jonas Kirchheiner-Rasmussen & Johnny Dyreborg & Anna Ilsøe & Trine Pernille Larsen & Jacob Pedersen & Anne Helene Garde, 2022. "Labor Market Affiliation of Marginal Part-Time Workers in Denmark—A Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, June.
    5. Danielle Sandler & Nichole Szembrot, 2019. "Maternal Labor Dynamics: Participation, Earnings, and Employer Changes," Working Papers 19-33, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    6. Francesca Fiori & Giorgio Di Gessa, 2023. "Influences on Employment Transitions around the Birth of the First Child: The Experience of Italian Mothers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 196-214, February.

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