The Timing of Childbearing and Women's Wages

Abstract

This study examined the association between womens wages and childbearing with a primary focus on birth timing. Three relevant issues were established to support the context of this research: 1) the association between motherhood and pay; 2) the direct wage penalty; and 3) the timing implications of career interruptions for womens wages. Using the Ordinary Least Square Model and fixed-effects models analysis identified a significant child wage penalty and showed that it varies by birth timing being concentrated among women who gave birth at an early life stage between age 20 and 27. Consistent with life course theory the timing of childbirth shapes womens life chances in a significant way. This study also showed that those who first gave birth as teens were not as vulnerable as other early childbearers to the adverse impact of children on wages. Education too reduces the magnitude of the penalty. However the difference between the two groups was no longer significant after unobserved heterogeneity was taken into account. The association between children and womens wages is likely to be mediated by factors such as the availability of maternity benefits and child care arrangements.