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Title: Long-Term Employment and Earnings of Women in Relation to Employment Behavior Surrounding the First Birth
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Shapiro, David Mott, Frank L. |
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Long-Term Employment and Earnings of Women in Relation to Employment Behavior Surrounding the First Birth Presented: Minneapolis, MN, Donner Foundation - University of Minnesota Industrial Relations Center Workshop on the Economic Well-Being of Women and Children, 1991 Cohort(s): Young Women Publisher: Author Keyword(s): Children, Well-Being; First Birth; Labor Force Participation; Maternal Employment; Mothers; Racial Differences; Wages; Well-Being; Work Histories Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. This paper examines the extent to which the employment activities of women overtime are linked to their work behavior during the period immediately before and after the birth of their first child. Utilizing data from the NLS of Young Women 1968-1987, the authors find that, for the women studied, employment behavior at first birth tends to be a significant independent predictor of lifetime work experience. Differences in current and recent work behavior according to first-birth employment status were found to persist but diminish over time. However, such differences were still evident 14-19 years after the first birth particularly for women who returned to work shortly after the child's birth. These differences in employment behavior translate into improved economic well-being, although somewhat differently for whites and blacks. Other things being equal, the greater lifetime work experience of whites who worked both just before and just after the first birth is associated with an average wage premium of nearly 18 percent compared to those who were not employed during this period of time. The corresponding wage premium for the most strongly attached whites as compared to those who worked just before the birth but not immediately after was approximately 13 percent. Among the blacks studied, there was a distinctly smaller wage premium, amounting to 6 percent at the most, associated with greater lifetime work experience. The authors conclude that policies aimed at facilitating retention of employment at the outset of childbearing might not only contribute to a greater supply of female workers but could eventually lead to demand-side changes that would enhance women's opportunities for advancement in the labor market. |
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Bibliography Citation
Shapiro, David and Frank L. Mott. "Long-Term Employment and Earnings of Women in Relation to Employment Behavior Surrounding the First Birth." Presented: Minneapolis, MN, Donner Foundation - University of Minnesota Industrial Relations Center Workshop on the Economic Well-Being of Women and Children, 1991. |