Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark

Henrik Jacobsen Kleven, Camille Landais and Jakob Egholt Soegaard
Additional contact information
Henrik Jacobsen Kleven: Princeton University and NBER
Jakob Egholt Soegaard: Department of Economics, CEBI, University of Copenhagen

No 18-01, CEBI working paper series from University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI)

Abstract: Despite considerable gender convergence over time, substantial gender inequality persists in all countries. Using Danish administrative data from 1980-2013 and an event study approach, we show that most of the remaining gender inequality in earnings is due to children. The arrival of children creates a gender gap in earnings of around 20% in the long run, driven in roughly equal proportions by labor force participation, hours of work, and wage rates. Underlying these �child penalties�, we find clear dynamic impacts on occupation, promotion to manager, sector, and the family friendliness of the firm for women relative to men. Based on a dynamic decomposition framework, we show that the fraction of gender inequality caused by child penalties has increased dramatically over time, from about 40% in 1980 to about 80% in 2013. As a possible explanation for the persistence of child penalties, we show that they are transmitted through generations, from parents to daughters (but not sons), consistent with an influence of childhood environment in the formation of women�s preferences over family and career.

Keywords: Gender Inequality; female labor supply; Children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J21 J22 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 57 pages
Date: 2018-01-29
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econ.ku.dk/cebi/publikationer/working- ... rs/CEBI_WP_01-18.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark (2019)
Working Paper: Children and gender inequality: evidence from Denmark (2019)
Working Paper: Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark (2018)
Working Paper: Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark (2018)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kud:kucebi:1801

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEBI working paper series from University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI) Oester Farimagsgade 5, Building 26, DK-1353 Copenhagen K., Denmark. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Thomas Hoffmann ().