Does the impact of motherhood on women’s earnings differ for women who plan their first births?

• In Event: 4364 - Contextualizing Reproductive Trajectories

Abstract

Women's employment and wages decline substantially once they transition to motherhood. As this depresses women’s earnings and contributes to gender inequality in many countries, sociologists have devoted considerable attention to this topic. Family planning is another phenomenon which has been posited to impact women’s earnings, and research shows that access to contraception has contributed to women's increased earnings. However, it is unclear whether the impact of motherhood on women's employment, hours or wages is smaller for women who planned their transition into motherhood compared to those who did not. To explore this, we estimate fixed-effects models which compare labor market outcomes among these groups using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-2014. Since prior studies have found that the association between motherhood and labor market outcomes is largest among white women, we also examine whether differences by birth planning in the relationship between motherhood and labor market outcomes vary by race. We find that the relationship between motherhood and employment is significantly more negative among white women who plan their transition into motherhood compared to those who have unplanned first births. Among those who remain employed, we find these groups similarly differ in their association between motherhood and hours worked. We do not find significant evidence that the association between motherhood and labor market outcomes differs by fertility intentions among black women. These findings highlight the challenges women face as parents in the workforce and run counter to the narrative that planning births will reduce the impact of parenting on gender earnings inequality.

Authors

• Jonathan Marc Bearak, Guttmacher Institute

• Anna Popinchalk, Guttmacher Institute

• Kristen Lagasse Burke, UT Austin

• Selena Anjur-Dietrich, Guttmacher Institute