Providing for a Family in the Working Class: Employment Patterns after the Birth of a Child

• In Event: 307 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Paper Session. Family, Work, and Gender

Abstract

Over the last four decades, low- and middle-skill workers have experienced stagnant or declining wages and earnings, and few jobs available to these workers today pay a “provider’s wage,” or a wage that can support a family with dignity. In this study we ask whether working class men and women are able to secure gains in wages and/or earnings as they transition to parenthood or increase family size. Using the 2004 and 2008 panels of the Survey for Income and Program Participation (SIPP), we employ fixed effects models to examine the impact of labor market behavior and occupation on wages and earnings after the birth of a child. We find that low- and middle-skill women experience losses in wages and earnings in the first year after the birth of a first and second child, but both men and women experience gains in wages and earnings after the birth of a third child. Women’s wage losses after the birth of a first or second child are typically the result of a change in employment behavior, such as a reduction of hours or a switch to a salaried job. On the other hand, men are able to secure wage and earnings gains after the birth of a first child and third child, but in contrast to women, gains in wages and earnings among men is more strongly related to their occupation, rather then their employment behavior. Professional and construction occupations are particularly advantageous for men after the birth of a child.

Authors

• Janette S. Dill, University of Akron

• Adrianne Frech, University of Akron