US Census Report: Cost of Motherhood on Women’s Employment and Earnings; Taking a Short Break From the Labor Force Has Only a Temporary Effect on Earnings

When working women have children, they experience a permanent setback in their likelihood of working and a big but temporary drop in earnings.

New US Census Bureau research shows that the share of women who are working falls by 18 percentage points in the quarter they give birth to their first child, as illustrated in the figure below.

For women who only have one child, the rate of workforce participation remains at a lower level than before birth, but stabilizes. However, subsequent births decrease workforce participation further.

The Research used data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to earnings data from the Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) program.

Photo, right, from GlassDoor and BrightHorizons Care Direct

For women who only have one child, the rate of workforce participation remains at a lower level than before birth, but stabilizes. However, subsequent births decrease workforce participation further.

cost-of-motherhood-on-womens-employment-and-earnings-figure-1

For mothers who continue to work, earnings fall by an average of $1,861 in the first quarter after birth relative to earnings pre-pregnancy or in early pregnancy (three quarters before the birth).

But earnings recover to pre-birth levels by the fifth quarter after birth, and rise by an average of $101 per quarter for the next six years.

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