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Title: The Motherhood Penalty at Midlife: The Long-term Impact of Childbearing on Womens Careers

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2012

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Abstract: We build on prior research on the motherhood wage penalty and consider the longer term impact of childbearing on womens careers. We utilize all 35 years of the NLS-YW panel to model patterns of labor force participation, wages and occupational status, across the adult life course as women age from their twenties to their fifties. We find that the motherhood penalty to womens careers is strongest when women are in their peak childbearing ages, but declines significantly thereafter. By the time they reach their fifties, mothers and childless women are almost equally likely to be employed; however employed childless women continue to earn significantly higher wages and work in higher status occupations than high parity mothers (but not mothers of only 1 or 2 children).

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Authors: Garcia-Manglano, Javier; Bianchi, Suzanne M.; Kahn, Joan R.

Publisher: University of Maryland, College Park

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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