Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP12594
Authors: Henrik Kleven; Camille Landais; Jakob Egholt Sgaard
Abstract: Despite considerable gender convergence over time, substantial gender inequality persistsin 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 arrivalof children creates a gender gap in earnings of around 20% in the long run, driven in roughlyequal 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 decompositionframework, we show that the fraction of gender inequality caused by child penaltieshas increased dramatically over time, from about 40% in 1980 to about 80% in 2013. As a possibleexplanation for the persistence of child penalties, we show that they are transmitted throughgenerations, from parents to daughters (but not sons), consistent with an influence of childhoodenvironment in the formation of women’s preferences over family and career
Keywords: gender inequality; child penalties; labor market; Denmark; event study
JEL Codes: J16; J31; J13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| child penalties (J13) | gender inequality (J16) |
| children (J13) | gender gap in earnings (J31) |
| children (J13) | labor force participation (J22) |
| children (J13) | hours worked (J22) |
| children (J13) | wage rates (J31) |
| child penalties (J13) | intergenerational effects (D15) |
| mother's labor supply history (J22) | daughter's penalties (J13) |