Beliefs and Realities of Work and Care After Childbirth

Andrew Caplin, Soeren Leth-Petersen and Christopher Tonetti
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Andrew Caplin: New York University
Soeren Leth-Petersen: Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen

No 25-07, CEBI working paper series from University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI)

Abstract: Models of female labor supply routinely assume that women have accurate expectations about post-birth employment, but little is known about whether this assumption holds. We use a 2019 state-contingent survey of 11,000 Danish women linked to administrative data to compare pre-birth beliefs to realized outcomes. Mothers accurately anticipate long-run return to work but systematically overestimate how soon it will occur. Miscalibration stems from two belief errors—about partner leave and own labor supply—which interact and persist even among second-time mothers.

Keywords: Children; employment expectations; administrative data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D84 E24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33
Date: 2025-07-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kud:kucebi:2507

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