Earnings of women with and without children
By Xuelin Zhang
The hourly earnings of Canadian mothers, controlled for age, were 12% less than those of childless women, and the gap widened with more children.
About 70% of the observed motherhood earnings gap can be accounted for by factors such as career interruption, part-time employment, and other individual or job characteristics.
Overall, the results suggest that employer practices may not be a major factor underlying the gap. But the earnings losses incurred by single mothers, mothers with a long career interruption and those with three or more children are significant.
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