Birth Timing and Spacing: Implications for Parental Leave Dynamics and Child Penalties

Abigail Adams, Jensen, Mathias Fjællegaard and Barbara Petrongolo

No 19324, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We develop new facts on relationships between the timing and spacing of births, parental leave take-up, and labor market outcomes using Danish administrative data. We document substantial heterogeneity in age at first birth across maternal skill levels. Average spacing of pregnancies is also tighter for highly skilled mothers, resulting in higher fertility levels and time on parental leave soon after first birth. We estimate event studies by skill level and find that much of child penalties in earnings and participation after first birth can be explained by incapacitation effects from parental leave around subsequent births, especially for the highly educated.

JEL-codes: J13 J16 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
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Working Paper: Birth Timing and Spacing: Implications for Parental Leave Dynamics and Child Penalties (2024)
Working Paper: Birth Timing and Spacing: Implications for Parental Leave Dynamics and Child Penalties (2024)
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