Penalty or Premium? The Effect of Parenthood on Wages for U.S. Women and Men in Professional Occupations
It is well established that mothers are paid less than childless women, while fathers enjoy a wage premium relative to childless men, but we do not know whether these findings apply to workers in all occupations. Using IPUMS and ACS data from 1980 and 2010, we examine the effect of parenthood on the wages for the most advantaged sector of the occupational distribution – highly-educated professionals. Results indicate that the size of the wage penalty has declined over time for women in all professions. Moreover, women in the traditionally male dominated professions of STEM, medicine and law now enjoy a wage premium for motherhood, while women in female dominated professions continue to experience a wage penalty. The fatherhood wage premium has remained quite stable over time. These findings underscore the growing heterogeneity of women’s experiences in combining work and family and raise important questions for further research.
