The gender wage gap rises with experience. To what extent do firm policies mediate this rise? We use administrative data from Italy to identify workers' first jobs and compute wage growth over the next 5 years. We then decompose the contribution of first employers to the rise in the gender wage...

Efforts have been made to improve gender diversity in the built environment professions. This sector continues to experience growth restrictions due to skill shortages. Some progress has been made at the entry level; however, the retention of women in professional roles within this sector...

Countries often encourage part-time work among new parents as part of their family policies, aiming to foster mothers' labor market attachment. However, this approach may unintentionally impede women's long-term career prospects. We examine the impact of a 1999 Spanish reform that allowed...

The gender wage gap rises with experience. To what extent do firm policies mediate this rise? We use administrative data from Italy to identify workers' first jobs and compute wage growth over the next 5 years. We then decompose the contribution of first employers to the rise in the gender wage...

The gender wage gap rises with experience. To what extent do firm policies mediate this rise? We use administrative data from Italy to identify workers' first jobs and compute wage growth over the next 5 years. We then decompose the contribution of first employers to the rise in the gender wage...

This study examines the discursive positioning of motherhood in navigating caregiving responsibilities and professional aspirations, employing Q-methodology to explore how contemporary maternal identities are negotiated within varying social expectations. Through the analysis of Q-sorts from 46...

This paper studies the impact of the home sewing machine on women's work and intergenerational mobility - an innovation that enabled women to generate income from within the household. Marketed directly to women as a tool for both domestic use and paid work, it provides a unique setting to...

This article examines the effects of maternity leave (Law 1822 of 2017) on the Colombian women's labor market. Using biannual cohorts during the working life cycle of women (18 to 57 years old) reveals that the law's implementation reduced the hours worked and the real hourly wage for younger...

This paper analyses the gender pay gap in Slovakia, with an emphasis on the impact of motherhood, using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. The results indicate that the gender wage gap is 16.8%, while the gap between mothers and the rest of the workforce is even higher (18.3%). A significant share of...

Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey, we examine the effect of childbirth on female labour market outcomes in India. Contrary to findings from similar studies in developed countries, we do not observe any motherhood penalty in earnings,...

Utilizing data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we employ panel methodologies and unconditional quantile regression (UQR) analysis to explore the prevalence and impact of the motherhood penalty within the context of the United Kingdom. Our panel findings underscore the persistence of a...

Using administrative data on Australian daycare centers and a triple-difference design, we examine the impact of daycare availability and quality ratings on childcare utilization and mothers' labor market outcomes. We document a substantial positive impact of daycare availability and higher...

A prominent explanation for the motherhood wage penalty is human capital loss during career interruptions around childbirth. This study provides first direct evidence on this mechanism by examining whether longer parenting leave reduces mothers' work-relevant skills. Using a newly constructed...

Paid parental leave schemes have been shown to increase women's employment rates but to decrease their wages in case of extended leave duration. In view of these potential trade-offs, many countries are discussing the optimal design of parental leave policies. We analyze the impact of a major...

Establishment of public-private partnerships is an emerging model in health care delivery. This study evaluates a pioneering social health insurance program in India that enables eligible households to access private hospitals for tertiary care services free of cost, but does not build more...

We study how maternal preferences interact with education to shape the motherhood penalty. Using rich Finnish registry data and the quasi-random gender of the firstborn child, we show that mothers across education groups display a mild preference for daughters, reflected in their fertility and...

Public insurance reimbursement policies shape the structure and reach of healthcare markets. In this study, we examine the 1980 federal Medicaid mandate requiring states to reimburse Certified Nurse-Midwives, one of the first reforms targeting non-physician providers. We find the mandate...

At the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) campaign in 2015, stunting among under 5-year-olds remained a major challenge in South Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia lagging behind-a phenomenon known as the "Asian enigma." This paper revisits the issue, focusing on...

Following the Social Security Coordination Regulations, parents residing in a Member State other than the Member State where they are insured (i.e., competent Member State), are entitled to maternity and equivalent paternity benefits in cash provided by the competent Member State (i.e., export...

We provide a full reexamination of the effects of a maternity leave extension implemented in Norway in 1977. Previous research reporting large favorable long-term effects on mothers' health and on offspring's educational and labor market outcomes relied on an incorrect description of the reform...

Social norms play a critical role in society. This paper studies how difficult it is to manipulate social norms and whether efforts to do so may result in a backlash. We study the 1945 reform of primary education implemented under Franco’s regime in Spain, which promoted nationalist-religious...