The Career Costs of Children

Christian Dustmann, Jerome Adda and Katrien Stevens

No 8697, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This paper analyzes the life-cycle career costs associated with child rearing and decomposes their effects into unearned wages (as women drop out of the labor market), loss of human capital, and selection into more child-friendly occupations. We estimate a dynamic life-cycle model of fertility, occupational choice, and labor supply using detailed survey and administrative data for Germany for numerous birth cohorts across different regions. We use this model to analyze both the male-female wage gap as it evolves from labor market entry onward and the effect of pro-fertility policies. We show that a substantial portion of the gender wage gap is explainable by realized and expected fertility and that the long-run effect of policies encouraging fertility are considerably lower than the short-run effects typically estimated in the literature.

Keywords: Fertility; Gender wage gap; Labour supply; Occupational choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J22 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-lab and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (40)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Career Costs of Children (2017)
Working Paper: The Career Costs of Children (2016)
Working Paper: The Career Costs of Children (2016)
Working Paper: The Career Costs of Children (2012)
Working Paper: The Career Costs of Children (2011)
Working Paper: The Career Costs of Children (2011)
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