Table 2.
Wage Penalties for Motherhood by Country and Birth Cohort: Selectivity-Corrected Fixed-Effects Estimates
| Model | Germany, 1960–1964 | Germany, 1965–1969 | Britain, 1965–1969 | United States, 1955–1959 | United States, 1960–1964 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specification A: Gross Wage Penalty | −0.179** (0.019) |
−0.159** (0.022) |
−0.126** (0.024) |
−0.093** (0.008) |
−0.161** (0.008) |
| Specification B: Wage Penalty Net of Actual Labor Force Experience | −0.129** (0.017) |
−0.150** (0.019) |
−0.086** (0.022) |
−0.041** (0.007) |
−0.072** (0.005) |
| Specification C: Wage Penalty Net of Actual Experience and Work Interruptions | −0.117** (0.020) |
−0.116** (0.024) |
−0.022 (0.025) |
−0.031** (0.008) |
−0.050** (0.006) |
| Specification D: Wage Penalty Net of Actual Experience, Work Interruption, and Employer Change at Reentry | −0.113** (0.020) |
−0.114** (0.024) |
0.010 (0.022) |
−0.023** (0.009) |
−0.042** (0.006) |
| Specification E: Wage Penalty Net of Labor Market Behavior | −0.105** (0.020) |
−0.122** (0.023) |
0.007 (0.022) |
−0.008 (0.008) |
−0.029** (0.006) |
| Number of Observations | 4,865 | 4,609 | 4,276 | 21,991 | 37,101 |
| Number of Persons | 1,087 | 1,101 | 961 | 2,228 | 3,543 |
Notes: Coefficients are for the per child penalty in log wage regressions for the female labor force only. Parameter estimates for controls are omitted for presentation; full results are available from the authors upon request. Tables 3 and 4 provide full estimation results for models D and E. Selectivity-correction terms are identified from age of the youngest child in the household, marital status (never married, married, separated/divorced/widowed), and their interaction. Asymptotic standard errors are in parentheses.
Sources: GSOEP 1984–2001; BHPS 1991–2001; and NLSY 1979–1996.
**
p < .01