Parity-specific motherhood penalties: Long-term impacts of childbirth on women's earnings in Japan
- PMID: 36661294
- DOI: 10.1016/j.alcr.2021.100435
Parity-specific motherhood penalties: Long-term impacts of childbirth on women's earnings in Japan
Abstract
The issue of motherhood earnings penalty has been well-documented in many Western countries. However, only a few studies discussed how earnings penalty evolves over time and varies across different parity of birth. Moreover, related research in non-Western developed countries is scant. This study contributes to the motherhood penalty literature by examining the long-term impacts (up to 10 years after childbirth) of the first and the second birth on women's employment, work hours, wage rates, and earnings in Japan. It proposes a novel research design based on the event-study approach and fixed effects regressions to quantify the dynamic effects of motherhood resulted from two consecutive birth transitions. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers (from 1993 to 2015), our results show that both the first and the second birth trigger short-term earnings penalties by causing a considerable employment slump upon pregnancy. In the long run, while women's employment rates recover, work hours and wage rates remain significantly lower than their pre-pregnancy level, leading to the long-term earnings penalty. More importantly, the long-term negative impacts of childbirth on labor supply and wage rates result mostly from women's first-time rather than the second-time birth transition in Japan. These findings imply that motherhood in Japan imposes long-term penalties on women's earnings, primarily by depressing maternal labor supply after their first-time motherhood transition.
Keywords: Earnings; Employment; Life course; Motherhood penalty; Parity; Wages; Work hours.
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Similar articles
-
The Impact of Motherhood on Women's Career Progression: A Scoping Review of Evidence-Based Interventions.Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Mar 26;14(4):275. doi: 10.3390/bs14040275. Behav Sci (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38667071 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The Long-Term Costs of Family Trajectories: Women's Later-Life Employment and Earnings Across Europe.Demography. 2020 Jun;57(3):1007-1034. doi: 10.1007/s13524-020-00874-8. Demography. 2020. PMID: 32329016 Free PMC article.
-
The Motherhood Penalty at Midlife: Long-Term Effects of Children on Women's Careers.J Marriage Fam. 2014 Feb;76(1):56-72. doi: 10.1111/jomf.12086. J Marriage Fam. 2014. PMID: 24904185 Free PMC article.
-
Does the Impact of Motherhood on Women's Employment and Wages Differ for Women Who Plan Their Transition Into Motherhood?Demography. 2021 Aug 1;58(4):1301-1325. doi: 10.1215/00703370-9295218. Demography. 2021. PMID: 33970193
-
Physician labor supply: do income effects matter?J Health Econ. 1994 Dec;13(4):433-53. doi: 10.1016/0167-6296(94)90012-4. J Health Econ. 1994. PMID: 10140533 Review.
Cited by
-
Challenges, experiences, and potential supports for East and Southeast Asian mothers in the workforce: a systematic review.BMC Womens Health. 2024 Jul 25;24(1):422. doi: 10.1186/s12905-024-03255-0. BMC Womens Health. 2024. PMID: 39054480 Free PMC article.
-
The Impact of Motherhood on Women's Career Progression: A Scoping Review of Evidence-Based Interventions.Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Mar 26;14(4):275. doi: 10.3390/bs14040275. Behav Sci (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38667071 Free PMC article. Review.