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The Relationship between Age at First Birth and Mother's Lifetime Earnings: Evidence from Danish Data

Author

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  • Man Yee Mallory Leung
  • Fane Groes
  • Raul Santaeulalia-Llopis
Abstract
Background: Having children creates career interruptions and reductions in labor income for women. This study documents the relation between the age at first birth (AFB) and women’s labor income. We study these dynamics in the short run (i.e. ratio between labor income at AFB and two years prior to AFB) and long run (i.e., positive/negative differences in total lifetime labor income). Methods: Using unique Danish administrative register data for the entire Danish population, we estimate the age-income profiles separately for college and non-college women conditional on marital status, and mothers’ age at first birth (AFB). We compute the lifetime labor income differentials by taking the differences between the labor income of women with and without children at each AFB. Results: The short-run loss in labor income, defined as the difference in percentages between the income earned two years prior to AFB and income earned at AFB, ranges from 37% to 65% for college women and from 40% to 53% for non-college women. These losses decrease monotonically with respect to AFB for both education groups. Our results on the lifetime labor income differentials between mothers and women without children also show a net effect that is monotonic (from negative to positive) in AFB. With AFB 31. The largest gains for college women are 13% of their average annual income and this figure is 50% for non-college women. Conclusion: Women have a large and unambiguous short-run reduction in labor income at their AFB. In terms of lifetime labor income, both college and non-college women, compared to childless women, are associated with lower income of more than twice their respective average annual income when bearing a child at AFB 31 are relatively higher.

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  • Man Yee Mallory Leung & Fane Groes & Raul Santaeulalia-Llopis, 2016. "The Relationship between Age at First Birth and Mother's Lifetime Earnings: Evidence from Danish Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0146989
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146989
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Massimiliano Bratti & Elena Claudia Meroni & Chiara Pronzato, 2017. "Motherhood Postponement and Wages in Europe," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 15(02), pages 31-37, August.
    6. SANTAEULÀLIA-LLOPIS, Raül; IORIO, Daniela; GROES, Fane; LEUNG, Man Yee Mallory, 2017. "Educational disparities in the battle against infertility : evidence from IVF success," Economics Working Papers ECO2017/05, European University Institute.
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    15. Troeger, Vera E. & Di Leo, Riccardo & Scotto, Thomas J. & Epifanio, Mariaelisa, 2020. "The Motherhood Penalties : Insights from Women in UK Academia," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1313, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
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    17. Jessica Nisén & Johanna Tassot & Francesco Iacoella & Peter Eibich, 2022. "The effect of fertility timing on women’s earnings at midlife in the UK," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-021, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

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