Childless Counterparts Research Articles

Parenthood premium but fatherhood super-premium in academic productivity? A matter of partner's employment

ABSTRACT While the discourse about work-family balance in academia (and elsewhere) is generally framed as a woman's issue, this study focuses on the association between childbirth and the scholarly productivity of both academic women and men. In particular, the authors examine whether the association between parenthood and scholarly productivity is contingent on gender and partner's employment status. Using German longitudinal data and addressing self-selection, results indicate the existence of a ‘parenthood premium’: scholarly productivity is higher for both fathers and mothers compared to their childless counterparts. Yet, academic fathers publish more than childless men and more than academic mothers, giving rise to a ‘fatherhood super-premium’. Additionally, the study reveals that the fatherhood super-premium is influenced by the employment status of the female partner, while this is not the case for academic mothers. Overall, the research highlights the importance of considering the division of labour within couples in understanding the gender gap in scholarly productivity and, ultimately, gender disparities in academia.

Enduring maternal brain changes and their role in mediating motherhood’s impact on well-being

Parenthood, particularly motherhood, is known to impact the structure and function of the brain in the short term, but the long-term effects of parenthood and their impacts on well-being are still poorly understood. This study explores the potential longer-term associations between parenthood and the brain, parenthood and well-being, and the potential role of brain modifications in influencing mothers’ well-being. Using data from the UK Biobank, which includes brain imaging information from individuals aged 45–82 at the MRI scanning, we discovered differences in brain structure between mothers and non-mothers, with mothers exhibiting widely distributed higher gray matter density, particularly strong in frontal and occipital regions. No brain changes were observed in fathers. Parents reported a higher sense of life’s meaning compared to their childless counterparts. Gray matter changes did not mediate the relationship between motherhood and well-being. This suggests that the alterations in gray matter associated with motherhood do not play a deterministic role in shaping long-term changes in well-being.

Access to Higher Education and Adolescent Fertility in Chile.

This study investigates gender differences in the association between adolescent fertility and the likelihood of initiating higher education among young Chilean men and women. We adopt an entropy balancing strategy to estimate the association between adolescent fertility and the likelihood of starting higher education while accounting for potential selection into early childbearing due to socioeconomic status and prior academic achievement. We use data from official national registers that cover a cohort of Chilean students who attended publicly funded schools and who successfully completed secondary schooling between 2011 and 2022. Our results indicate that adolescent mothers are 15 percentage points less likely to initiate higher education than their peers who did not give birth during adolescence. In comparison, teenage fathers are 20 percentage points less likely to do so than their childless counterparts. Our findings stand in contrast to previously identified disadvantage patterns for secondary school completion, whereby adolescent fertility more significantly hinders schooling completion for women relative to men. We contend that this reversal may be related to traditional gender-role expectations in Chile, which encourage young fathers to act as providers and, therefore, may be prevented from continuing on their education path into tertiary studies.

Who cares? Childcare support and women’s labor supply in Hong Kong

Prior research explored the individual contributions of grandparents, domestic workers, and preschool institutions in supporting maternal employment, yet few have examined them simultaneously. More importantly, the increasing diversity and multiplicity in childcare arrangement throughout different stages of childrearing has been largely overlooked. Utilizing data from the Hong Kong Panel Study of Social Dynamics (HKPSSD), this study examines the effects of diverse childcare combinations on women’s labor supply from a life course perspective. Our findings reveal that mothers with younger children are considerably less likely to remain in the workforce and work fewer hours than their childless counterparts. Nevertheless, grandparental co-residence, outsourcing and center-based care can all significantly alleviate such motherhood penalty, albeit to different extents. Notably, during the initial years of motherhood, solely relying on either grandparental care or center-based care yields limited effects, but these options become advantageous for mothers when paired with assistance from domestic workers. These findings highlight the potential for policy interventions that directly subsidize parents for marketized approaches to childcare, particularly in societies experiencing a decline in multigenerational households and rising costs for formal childcare.

Risk Attitudes in Late Adulthood: Do Parenthood Status and Family Size Matter?

How older persons react to high-stakes decisions concerning their finance and healthcare depends a great deal on their orientation towards risk-taking. This study examines the associations between parenthood status, family size, and risk attitudes in late adulthood based on nationally-representative data from the Singapore Life Panel. Multivariate analyses are employed to estimate how older adults' willingness to take risks in the general, financial, and health domains varies by gender and among childless individuals and parents of different family size. Older mothers are found to be less risk tolerant than their childless counterparts across the three risk domains. Conversely, mothers with more children demonstrate greater risk tolerance than mothers with fewer children. We find no evidence that older men's risk attitudes vary by parenthood status and family size. We discuss the implications of our findings for understanding individual and societal well-being in the context of rapid fertility decline and population aging.

Impact of BRCA Status on Reproductive Decision-Making and Self-Concept: A Mixed-Methods Study Informing the Development of Tailored Interventions.

Simple SummaryReproductive decision-making is a complex process and is influenced by personal, medical, and sociocultural factors. Relatively little is known about reproductive decision-making in women harboring mutations in the BRCA1 and/or BRCA2—pathogenic variants that confer different cancer risk profiles and underlie hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. A deeper understanding of BRCA+ women’s experiences is needed to develop tailored approaches to reproductive decision-making—a central aspect of precision health. This study provides findings to guide tailored interventions to enhance precision health for BRCA+ women of reproductive age.This mixed-methods study sought to deepen our understanding of self-concept and experiences in balancing cancer risk/reproductive decisions after learning of BRCA+ status. First, a quantitative survey of BRCA+ women (n = 505) examined the childbearing status, risk-reducing surgery, and self-concept. At the time of testing, 307/505 (60.8%) women were of reproductive age (<40 years-old), 340/505 (67.3%) had children, and 317/505 (62.8%) had undergone risk-reducing surgery. A younger age at the time of the testing was significantly associated with the decision to have children after learning BRCA+ status or undergoing risk-reducing surgery (p < 0.001). Compared to older women, BRCA+ women of reproductive age, exhibited a more negative self-concept with significantly higher vulnerability ratings (p < 0.01). Women with a cancer diagnosis exhibited a more negative mastery ratings and worse vulnerability ratings (p < 0.01) than women without a cancer history. Compared to childless counterparts, significantly higher vulnerability ratings were observed among BRCA+ women who had children before learning their BRCA status and/or undergoing risk-reducing surgery (p < 0.001). Subsequently, a subset of women (n = 40) provided in-depth interviews to explore their experiences in decision-making. The interviews provided insights into the effects of BRCA status on decisions regarding relationships, childbearing, cancer risk management, and communicating BRCA risk to children. Integrating quantitative and qualitative findings identifies targets for tailored interventions to enhance precision health for BRCA+ women of reproductive age.

Medicaid Expansion Increased Coverage, Improved Affordability, And Reduced Psychological Distress For Low-Income Parents.

Despite receiving less attention than their childless counterparts, low-income parents also experienced significant expansions of Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We used data for the period 2010-15 from the National Health Interview Survey to examine the impacts of the ACA's Medicaid expansion on coverage, access and use, affordability, and health status for low-income parents. We found that eligibility expansions increased coverage, reduced problems paying medical bills, and reduced severe psychological distress. We found only limited evidence of increased use of care among parents in states with the smallest expansions, and no significant effects of the expansions on general health status or problems affording prescription drugs or mental health care. Together, our results suggest that the improvements in mental health status may be driven by reduced stress associated with improved financial security from insurance coverage. We also found large missed opportunities for low-income parents in states that did not expand Medicaid: If these states had expanded Medicaid, uninsurance rates for low-income parents would have fallen by an additional 28percent.

Discrimination Against Families with Children in Rental Housing Markets: Findings of the Pilot Study

This pilot study adapted a well-established paired-testing methodology to examine discrimination against families with children in the rental housing market, developed preliminary estimates of this form of discrimination, and explored what family or housing characteristics might affect it. Data were collected via telephone and in-person paired tests in three metropolitan sites: Dallas, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Los Angeles, California. The pilot study relied on a multifactor design using data from 612 matched pairs of rental applicants. Key findings are that homeseekers with or without children are equally likely to get an appointment with a rental agent and learn about at least one available housing unit. Compared with their childless counterparts, prospective renters with children were shown slightly fewer units and were told about units that were slightly larger, and, as a result, were slightly more expensive to rent. Other outcomes did not vary by the presence of a child. Differential treatment was greater in tests targeting one-bedroom units (versus larger units) and tests involving two-child families (versus one-child families). Other factors, including race/ethnicity and marital status of the tester and ages and sexes of the children, did not appear to affect systematically how families with children were treated in the rental housing market.

The Role of Family Orientations in Shaping the Effect of Fertility on Subjective Well-being: A Propensity Score Matching Approach.

This article investigates whether and how having a child impacts an individual's subjective well-being, while taking into account heterogeneity in family attitudes. People with different family orientations have different values, gender attitudes, preferences toward career and family, and expectations about how childbearing can affect their subjective well-being. These differences impact fertility decisions and the effect of parenthood on an individual's life satisfaction. We define three groups of people based on their family orientations: Traditional, Mixed, and Modern. Applying propensity score matching on longitudinal data (British Household Panel Survey), we create groups of individuals with very similar socioeconomic characteristics and family orientations before childbearing. We then compare those who have one child with those who are childless, and those who have two children with those who have only one child. We show that parents are significantly more satisfied than nonparents, and this effect is stronger among men than among women. For men, we do not find significant differences across family orientations groups in the effect of the birth of the first child on life satisfaction. Among women, only Traditional mothers seem to be more satisfied than their childless counterparts. Women who have a second child are never more satisfied than those who have only one child, regardless of their family orientations. Traditional and Mixed men experience a gain in life satisfaction when they have a second child, but this effect is not found for Modern men.

Physical activity and sport participation: A systematic review of the impact of fatherhood.

Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA), including sport participation, is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. Scholars have devoted considerable attention to understanding the impact of parenthood on MVPA, albeit only for women. As the impact of fatherhood on men's lives is drawing more and more scholarly and societal attention, the aim of the current article is to provide an systematic overview of studies examining the impact of fatherhood on MVPA.A systematic review was conducted in Google Scholar, Web of Science and Web of Knowledge, using (combinations of) the search terms: father(hood), parent(hood), exercise, physical activity, sport and leisure time. This resulted in 54 papers reporting differences in MVPA and/or sport between fathers and childless men or within men that became father, of which 13 were included.Our overview of findings suggested that fathers spent less time on MVPA compared with childless men, but that fathers did not differ from their childless counterparts on the subarea of sport participation. Differences in time spent on MVPA were strongest between childless men and fathers with young children (< 6 yrs).Our systematic review revealed that fathers spent less time on MVPA compared to childless men, especially when they had young children. Interestingly, linkages between parental status and the subarea of sport participation were not found, which suggests that fathers cut back on other areas of MVPA. Given the impact of MVPA on a healthy lifestyle, future research in this field is warranted.

The earned income tax credit, mental health, and happiness

We study the impact of the earned income tax credit (EITC) on various measures of subjective well-being (SWB) using the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) to estimate intent-to-treat effects of the EITC expansion embedded in the 1990 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. We use a difference-in-differences framework that compares the pre-and post-expansion SWB-changes of women likely eligible for the EITC (low-skilled mothers of working age) to the SWB-changes of a comparison group that is likely ineligible (low-skilled, childless women of working age). Our results suggest that the EITC expansion generated sizeable SWB-improvements in the three major categories of SWB identified in the literature. The NSFH is one of few datasets containing all three major categories of SWB. Subgroup analyses by marital status suggest that improvements accrued more to married than unmarried mothers. Relative to their childless counterparts, married mothers experienced a 15.7% decrease in depression symptomatology (experiential SWB), a 4.4% increase in happiness (evaluative SWB), and a 10.1% increase in self-esteem (eudemonic SWB). We also present specification checks that increase confidence that the observed SWB-effects are explained by the OBRA90 EITC expansion. Lastly, we explore mechanisms that may explain the differential impact of the EITC expansion by marital status.

Challenges and transformations: childbearing and changes in teens’ educational aspirations and expectations

ABSTRACTAlthough much of the focus on teen childbearing has been on its potential costs to teen parents and their children, emerging research suggests that teen childbearing while challenging can be a positively transformative experience for teens. One such transformation is enhanced educational aspirations and expectations. Much of the research on the positive consequences of teen childbearing for teens’ educational orientations, however, has come from in-depth interviews with teen mothers that have methodological limitations. Using panel data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and NLSY79 – Young Adult Survey 1994 (NLSY79-YA) this study finds that over time, teens’ educational expectations and aspirations increase, on average, regardless of parental status. Nevertheless, there is significant heterogeneity in how expectations and aspirations change. Teen parents have lower odds of increasing, and greater odds of decreasing, their aspirations and expectations over a 2-year period compared to their childless counterparts. These patterns, however, shift across cohorts. Unlike the NLSY79, there are no differences in the odds of lowering aspirations and expectations between teen parents and non-parents in the NLSY79-YA. Moreover, the lower odds of increasing aspirations/expectations among mothers and white teen parents compared to fathers and black teen parents in the NLSY79 cohort are not found in the NLSY79-YA.

Childbearing May Increase the Risk of Nondiabetic Cataract in Chinese Women’s Old Age

Backgrounds. Ocular changes may arise during pregnancy and after childbirth, but very few studies have reported the association between childbearing and cataract among older adults. Methods. 14,292 individuals aged 60+ years were recruited in Xiamen, China, in 2013. Physician-diagnosed cataract and diabetes status were assessed by a self-reported questionnaire. Childbearing status was measured by number of children (NOC). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among NOC, diabetes, and cataract. Gender-specific logistic models regressing nondiabetic cataract on NOC were performed by adjusting some covariates. Results. 14,119 participants had complete data, of whom 5.01% suffered from cataract, with higher prevalence in women than men (6.41% versus 3.51%). Estimates of SEM models for women suggested that both NOC and diabetes were risk factors for cataract and that no correlation existed between NOC and diabetes. Women who had one or more children faced roughly 2–4 times higher risk of nondiabetic cataract than their childless counterparts (OR [95% CI] = 3.88 [1.24, 17.71], 3.21 [1.04, 14.52], 4.32 [1.42, 19.44], 4.41 [1.46, 19.74], and 3.98 [1.28, 18.10] for having 1, 2, 3, 4-5, and 6 or more children, resp.). Conclusions. Childbearing may increase the risk of nondiabetic cataract in Chinese women's older age.

Divorce in Norwegian Same‐Sex Marriages and Registered Partnerships: The Role of Children

Using Norwegian register data on the total population of same‐sex couples who formalized their unions from 1993 through 2010 (N = 3,422, 52% male), this study addressed the level and correlates of divorce among these couples as compared with all opposite‐sex marriages in the same period (N = 407,495). In particular, the authors investigated the role of same‐sex parenting, which has received little study so far. Multivariate results confirmed that same‐sex couples had a higher divorce risk compared with opposite‐sex couples and that female couples were more divorce prone than male couples. Furthermore, having children was negatively related to divorce among female couples, whereas male couples with common children were more divorce prone than their childless counterparts. No evidence was found that the gender gap in divorce or the difference between same‐sex and opposite‐sex couples narrowed over the study period.

Impact of Having a First Child on Maternal Depressive Symptoms: Does the Birth of a Mother's First Baby Increase Symptoms of Depression in the Mother?

Previous studies on the impact of having a first child on a mother's psychological well-being has not been extensively examined in Korea. The present study aims to understand how having a first child is associated with a first-time mother's depressive symptoms when compared with their childless counterparts. A sample of 140 women aged 20–40 years, married, and childless in wave 1 of the Korean National Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) was selected. The depressive symptoms of women who became mothers between wave 1 and wave 2 of the study and those who remained childless were compared using CES-D. Two different types of analytical methods (i.e. pooled OLS, fixed effects model) were employed. The results consistently indicated that Korean mothers were more depressed after the birth of the first child than wives without a child. Employment status and satisfaction of social relationship were associated with women's depression in the fixed effect model. The consistent finding that shows a negative association between having a first child and maternal depressive symptoms provides empirical grounds for the development of prevention and intervention programs for first-time mothers. Implications of the study findings are discussed.

PARENTHOOD AND RETIREMENT

ABSTRACT This study uses retrospective life-history data from the SHARELIFE project for an initial assessment of the long-term relationship between individuals' reproductive history and retirement in 13 Continental European countries, focussing in particular on possible gender, cohort, and welfare regime differences. Our analysis provides some weak evidence that having (more) children is associated with later retirement among men, reflecting a continuation of the male provider role well into the late career phase. When distinguishing between women born before and after 1940, we detect striking cohort differences in retirement behaviours of mothers and childless individuals: while mothers belonging to the older cohorts tend to exit the labour force later than their childless counterparts, those born post-1940 exhibit a greater propensity to enter retirement earlier. This finding is discussed against the background of cross-national (i.e., welfare regime) differences in younger mothers' employment opportunities as well as differential economic and institutional opportunities for women (mothers, respectively) to retire early. We conclude with suggestions for future research.

The Earned Income Tax Credit, Health, and Happines

This paper contributes to the small but growing literature evaluating the health effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In particular, we use data from the National Survey of Families and Households to study the impact of the 1990 federal EITC expansion on several outcomes related to mental health and subjective well-being. The identification strategy relies on a difference-in-differences framework to estimate intent-to-treat effects for the post-reform period. Our results suggest that the 1990 EITC reform generated sizeable health benefits for low-skilled mothers. Such women experienced lower depression caseness, an increase in self-reported happiness, and improved self-efficacy relative to their childless counterparts. Consistent with previous work, we find that married mothers captured most of the health benefits, with unmarried mothers’ health changing very little following the 1990 EITC reform.

The Earned Income Tax Credit, Health, and Happiness

This paper contributes to the small but growing literature evaluating the health effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). In particular, we use data from the National Survey of Families and Households to study the impact of the 1990 federal EITC expansion on several outcomes related to mental health and subjective well-being. The identification strategy relies on a difference-in-differences framework to estimate intent-to-treat effects for the post-reform period. Our results suggest that the 1990 EITC reform generated sizeable health benefits for low-skilled mothers. Such women experienced lower depression symptomatology, an increase in self-reported happiness, and improved self-efficacy relative to their childless counterparts. Consistent with previous work, we find that married mothers captured most of the health benefits, with unmarried mothers' health changing very little following the 1990 EITC reform.

Social contacts and receipt of help among older people in England: are there benefits of having more children?

To investigate whether number of children and, among parents, having a daughter is associated with older people's likelihood of at least weekly face-to-face social contact and later receipt of help if needed. Multivariate analysis of data from Waves 1 and 2 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Older parents in England had higher chances of at least weekly face-to-face social contact than their childless counterparts but larger family size had only a slight additional effect. For parents, having at least one daughter was more important than number of children. Larger family size was positively associated with receipt of help from a child by parents with activities of daily living (ADL) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) limitations. Childless women were more likely than mothers to receive help from friends but even so had lower odds of receiving help from any informal source. Contact with a child in 2002 predicted receipt of help 2 years later. These results show some advantages for older parents compared with childless individuals in terms of social contact and receipt of help and, among parents, an additional effect of having a daughter. Changes in family size distributions have implications for the support of older people and for planners of formal services.

Motherhood and Earnings: Wage Variability by Major Occupational Category and Earnings Level

Prior research has indicated that women with children earn less than their childless counterparts. In addition, recent research has found that the motherhood wage penalty may be most severe for low-income earners. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979), we test two hypotheses. First, are there occupational differences in the motherhood wage penalty? Second, are there occupational differences in the relative wage penalty experienced by low and high wage mothers? Our results indicated that mothers in sales occupations are penalized at a significantly higher rate than mothers in non-sales occupations, while mothers in blue-collar occupations were penalized the least. Furthermore, the wage cost of motherhood was greatest amongst the highest earners in sales occupations.