【Empirical Seminar】The Motherhood Effect on Earnings amid Declining Fertility: Evidence from Korea
2025/02/20
研討會日期 : 2025-02-20
時間 : 10:30
主講人 : Professor Jisoo Hwang
地點 : Conference Room B110
主持人 : Professor Tzu-Ting Yang
演講者簡介 : Professor Jisoo Hwang received her Ph.D. in Economics from the Harvard University in 2013. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Seoul National University. Her research interests are Labor Economics, Family Economics, Demographic Economics, Public Economics, and Political Economy.
演講摘要 : Much of the remaining gender pay gap in developed countries is attributable to the effect of children, as women's earnings decline sharply following childbirth while men's remain unaffected. However, how will the "motherhood effect" evolve as more women choose not to have children? This paper examines changes in the motherhood effect on earnings and its mechanisms amid rising childlessness in South Korea, the country with the world's lowest fertility rate. We estimate the effect of first childbirth at the monthly level using an event study framework and administrative data covering the entire population. Across recent cohorts of women born between 1976 and 1985, where childlessness nearly doubled, we show that the loss in women's earnings following childbirth has increased from 40% to 46% in the short run. We find suggestive evidence that stronger positive selection into motherhood and the expansion of parental leave increased the motherhood effect on earnings.
