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13th February 2018
07:47pm GMT

"Using Danish administrative data from 1980-2013 and an event study approach, we show that most of the remaining gender inequality in earnings is due to children. "The arrival of children creates a gender gap in earnings of around 20 percent in the long run, driven in roughly equal proportions by labour force participation, hours of work, and wage rates. "Underlying these 'child penalties', we find clear dynamic impacts on occupation, promotion to manager, sector, and the family friendliness of the firm for women relative to men."Clearly, the solution here is not to stop having children as the words "child penalties" may suggest, but to allow women the same opportunities when they become mothers. After all, the men who became parents were not afforded the same penalties. Generally, when women become mothers, it is them who take on the burden of looking for flexible job opportunities. This leads to more women working part-time jobs and therefore earning less money, and more men continue to work full-time.
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