Does Biology Drive Child Penalties? Evidence from Biological and Adoptive Families

Camille Landais, Henrik Kleven and Jakob Søgaard

No 14704, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: This paper investigates if the impact of children on the labor market trajectories of women relative to men — child penalties — can be explained by the biological links between mother and child. We estimate child penalties in biological and adoptive families using event studies around the arrival of children and almost forty years of adoption data from Denmark. Long-run child penalties in earnings and its underlying determinants are virtually identical in biological and adoptive families. This implies that biology is not important for child-related gender gaps. Based on additional analyses, we argue that our results speak against the importance of specialization based on comparative advantage more broadly.

Date: 2020-05
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Related works:
Journal Article: Does Biology Drive Child Penalties? Evidence from Biological and Adoptive Families (2021)
Working Paper: Does biology drive child penalties? Evidence from biological and adoptive families (2021)
Working Paper: Does Biology Drive Child Penalties? Evidence from Biological and Adoptive Families (2020)
Working Paper: Does Biology Drive Child Penalties? Evidence from Biological and Adoptive Families (2020)
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