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The costs of motherhood: an analysis using matching estimators

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  • Marianne Simonsen
  • Lars Skipper

Abstract

We estimate the effect of motherhood on wages using matching. We distinguish between net and direct effects. The net effect includes the total wage costs, whereas the direct represents the causal effect. Since covariates are likely affected by motherhood, the latter effect is not immediately uncovered. We therefore implement two strategies: first, we confine the analysis to consider sector‐specific treatment effects; second, we impose additive separability on the outcome equation. We find negative net effects that vary little with sector. The direct effect is small and negative in the public sector and insignificant in the private sector. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Marianne Simonsen & Lars Skipper, 2006. "The costs of motherhood: an analysis using matching estimators," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 919-934, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:japmet:v:21:y:2006:i:7:p:919-934
    DOI: 10.1002/jae.893
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sanders Korenman & David Neumark, 1992. "Marriage, Motherhood, and Wages," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 27(2), pages 233-255.
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    7. Michael Lechner, 2002. "Some practical issues in the evaluation of heterogeneous labour market programmes by matching methods," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 165(1), pages 59-82, February.
    8. Marianne Simonsen & Lars Skipper, 2004. "Identifying Direct and Indirect Effects. Estimating th Costs of Motherhood Using Matching Estimators," Discussion Papers 03-023, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    9. 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.
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    10. Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska & Anna Matysiak, 2018. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: A Meta-Analysis," VID Working Papers 1808, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.

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