Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP13732
Authors: Anik BR; Steven Dieterle; Andreas Steinhauer
Abstract: We use administrative data from Austria to analyze labor market returns to delaying motherhood. We exploit delays due to pregnancy loss to provide bounds on the returns that account for imperfect instruments and selection into the sample for mothers that suffer a loss. Our results suggest small effects of delay on earnings, employment, and firm quality--- in contrast with the prior literature. The lower bounds suggest little difference in earnings trajectories around the first birth. This raises the possibility that much of the return may come from delaying the "child penalty" rather than changing how the career responds to children.
Keywords: female earnings; fertility timing; imperfect instrument
JEL Codes: J13; J31; C26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| delaying motherhood (J13) | cumulative earnings (J31) |
| delaying motherhood (J13) | total days of employment (J63) |
| delaying motherhood (J13) | maximum firm quality (L15) |
| delaying motherhood (J13) | child penalty realization (J13) |
| pregnancy loss (J13) | selection bias (C24) |
| delaying motherhood (J13) | prebirth earnings growth (J19) |
| delaying motherhood (J13) | postbirth earnings recovery (J39) |