Gender Disparities in Career Advancement across the Transition to Parenthood: Evidence from the Marine Corps

Olivia J. Healy and Jennifer Heissel

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2022, vol. 112, 561-67

Abstract: We isolate the effect of childbirth on mothers' and fathers' job-relevant physical performance using data from the US Marines. We estimate event study models around the first birth. We assign "placebo births" to non-parents using LASSO-selected predictors of parenthood to estimate counterfactual trends. We find large and persistent effects of motherhood on performance. Two years postbirth, mothers' physical performance remains 0.2 standard deviations lower than non-mothers'. For fathers, the birth also initially lowers performance, but fathers are able to recover. This research demonstrates a potential mechanism behind the child penalty to mothers' earnings.

JEL-codes: J13 J16 J31 J45 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221121

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