How to Think About the "Motherhood Penalty"

It is no secret that being a working parent during the pandemic has brought significant challenges. This problem has been, empirically, more severe for women than men. As with so many things, the pandemic in this case highlighted and exacerbated an issue that was already present. It was already the case that having children is a more significant drain on professional success for women — there is more of a “motherhood penalty” than a “fatherhood penalty” in the data. Today I want to highlight some facts — largely from the economics literature — about the impact of children on employment and wages for women and then talk a bit through what we learn from them about possible solutions (and to what problem). Want more on pregnancy and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at emilyoster.substack.com. You can also become a paid subscriber for access to the full ParentData archive (searchable by topic) and an extra newsletter every week.