We investigate the impact of delaying the first birth on Italian mothers’ labor market outcomes around childbirth. The effect of postponing motherhood is identified using biological fertility shocks; namely, the occurrence of miscarriages and stillbirths. Focusing on mothers’ behavior around the first birth, our study is able to isolate the effect of motherhood postponement from that of total fertility. Our estimates suggest that delaying the first birth by 1 year raises the likelihood of participating in the labor market by 1.2 % points and weekly working time by about half an hour, while we do not find any evidence that late motherhood prevents worsening of new mothers’ job conditions (the so-called ‘‘mommy track’’). Our findings are robust to a number of sensitivity checks, among which are controls for partners’ characteristics and a proxy for maternal health status.

Bratti, M., Cavalli, L., Delayed First Birth and New Mothers’ Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Biological Fertility Shocks, <<EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POPULATION>>, 2014; Volume 30 (1): 35-63. [doi:10.1007/s10680-013-9301-x] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/75521]

Delayed First Birth and New Mothers’ Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Biological Fertility Shocks

Bratti, Massimiliano
Primo
;
Cavalli, Laura
Secondo
2014

Abstract

We investigate the impact of delaying the first birth on Italian mothers’ labor market outcomes around childbirth. The effect of postponing motherhood is identified using biological fertility shocks; namely, the occurrence of miscarriages and stillbirths. Focusing on mothers’ behavior around the first birth, our study is able to isolate the effect of motherhood postponement from that of total fertility. Our estimates suggest that delaying the first birth by 1 year raises the likelihood of participating in the labor market by 1.2 % points and weekly working time by about half an hour, while we do not find any evidence that late motherhood prevents worsening of new mothers’ job conditions (the so-called ‘‘mommy track’’). Our findings are robust to a number of sensitivity checks, among which are controls for partners’ characteristics and a proxy for maternal health status.
2014
Inglese
Bratti, M., Cavalli, L., Delayed First Birth and New Mothers’ Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Biological Fertility Shocks, <<EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POPULATION>>, 2014; Volume 30 (1): 35-63. [doi:10.1007/s10680-013-9301-x] [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/75521]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10807/75521
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