2026/05/12 by Élise Coudin, Sophie Maillard, Maxime Tô +1 · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · #Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences #Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
paper · doi:10.3368/jhr.0422-12239r3
openalex publication_date 2026/05/12 · openalex created_date 2026/05/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
<h3>Abstract</h3> Examining firm-specific wage premiums’ contribution to child-penalties, we find mothers experience 39% income decline relative to fathers following childbirth, with 9% hourly wage penalty. Using French employer-employee data (1995-2021), we show firm premiums account for 10% of wage penalty, from mothers sorting into lower-paying firms rather than receiving lower premiums within firms. After childbirth, mothers sort into firms offering characteristics more conducive to reconciling family and professional lives: part-time work and proximity to home. These findings suggest that addressing the child-penalty requires policies enabling mothers to apply to or remain in high-paying firms, rather than focusing solely on within-firm disparities.