Wives, mothers and wages: Does timing matter?
by Marie Drolet
Business and Labour Market Analysis Division
Analytical
Studies Branch research paper series, No. 186
Trends in fertility patterns
suggest that young Canadian women are delaying family formation and concentrating
on developing their careers: the average age of mothers at the birth of their
first child has risen from 25.7 in 1986 to 27.1 in 1996. According to a new study
based on data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), the timing
of motherhood appears to have a significant bearing on the wages of Canadian women.
The concept of 'delaying parenthood' refers to the difference between
a women's actual age at first birth and an average (predicted) age at first
birth (conditional on education level, major field of study, urban size class
and birth year of the mother).
In 1998, after controlling for measurable
differences such as work experience and education, the study finds that women
who postponed motherhood (at least one year) earned 6.0% more than mothers who
had their children earlier in life (i.e. at least 1 year before the predicted
age at first birth).
There are many possible reasons for the wage gap between
mothers who interrupt their careers early to have children, and those waiting
until later. Notably, wage progression and promotional opportunities occur largely
early in ones career. If women "miss" this stage due to child rearing,
they may not recover (relative to others who do not miss this stage). Women who
postpone childbirth exit the labour force during a less critical period, and hence
may have higher wages in the longer run. Furthermore, women who have no children
early in their careers can be more flexible in decisions regarding training, promotions,
travel, and other factors affecting job advancement. Those who have children early
may be more restricted in their choices due to the presence of young children.
The
wage advantage of mothers who delay parenthood persists after birth of the child
but decreases with the number of years with children. This may reflect mothers
assuming traditional family roles that may limit their involvement in the labour
market when they have young children.
The wage gap between mothers who delay
having children and those who have children early is widespread among mothers
of all ages, but is greatest among younger Canadian cohorts of women. This may
reflect changes in the types of careers available to women of different cohorts.
For example, the share of women in male-dominated occupations (such as managers,
and occupations in natural sciences, engineering and mathematics) has increased
over the 1971 to 1991 period. Older cohorts of women may have faced fewer initial
career opportunities and flatter age-earnings profiles than more recent cohorts.
Therefore, the wage advantage associated with delaying motherhood may have mattered
less in the types of careers entered by older women. While among younger cohorts
of mothers the wage advantage of delaying motherhood tends to erode slightly,
yet at this point, it is impossible to ascertain whether they will persist or
disappear completely by the end of their career.
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