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Child Penalties and Financial Incentives: Exploiting Variation along the Wage Distribution

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  • P. PORA

    (Insee - Crest)

  • L. WILNER

    (Insee - Crest)

Abstract

We relate women's labor earnings losses due to motherhood to their pre-childbirth rank in the distribution of hourly wages. Using French administrative data from 2005 to 2015, we show these "child penalties" to decrease steeply along the distribution; by contrast, related hourly wage losses are pretty homogeneous. Low-wage mothers opt out or decrease their working hours more frequently; the magnitude of such responses is completely monotone along the distribution. This empirical evidence highlights the relevance of financial incentives and suggests that child penalties arise from decisions based on the gains of specialization, rather than on gender differences in preferences or on gender norms.

Suggested Citation

  • P. Pora & L. Wilner, 2019. "Child Penalties and Financial Incentives: Exploiting Variation along the Wage Distribution," Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers g2019-08, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques.
    • Handle: RePEc:nse:doctra:g2019-08
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesca Barigozzi & Helmuth Cremer & Emmanuel Thibault, 2024. "The motherhood wage and income traps," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-26, December.
    2. Artmann, Elisabeth & Oosterbeek, Hessel & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2022. "Household specialization and the child penalty in the Netherlands," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Bazen, Stephen & Joutard, Xavier & Périvier, Hélène, 2021. "Measuring the Child Penalty Early in a Career: The Case of Young Adults in France," IZA Discussion Papers 14763, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Stephen Bazen & Xavier Joutard & Hélène Périvier, 2021. "Measuring the Child Penalty Early in a Career," Working Papers hal-03451099, HAL.
    5. Pierre Pora, 2020. "Keep Working and Spend Less? Collective Childcare and Parental Earnings in France," EconomiX Working Papers 2020-29, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    6. Elass, Kenza, 2024. "Male and female selection effects on gender wage gaps in three countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. Alicia Quinto & Laura Hospido & Carlos Sanz, 2021. "The child penalty: evidence from Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 585-606, December.
    8. Simon Rabaté & Sara Rellstab, 2022. "What Determines the Child Penalty in the Netherlands? The Role of Policy and Norms," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 195-229, May.
    9. Simon Rabaté & Externe auteur: Sara Rellstab, 2021. "The Child Penalty in the Netherlands and its Determinants," CPB Discussion Paper 424, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender pay gap; child penalties; labor supply; difference-in-difference; wage distribution.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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