Publication type
Journal Article
Series Number
Author
Publication date
May 16, 2024
Summary:
This study assesses the labor market outcomes for both women who experience live births and those who undergo non-live births, in the UK. Leveraging data from the "Understanding Society" longitudinal survey spanning 2009-2023, it presents a nuanced exploration into how pregnancy outcomes—live births and non-live births—affect women's labor market trajectories, particularly in terms of labor earnings, employment probability, hourly wages, and weekly work hours. The analysis employs a step-wise approach, introducing variables related to career choices, human capital, health, and subsequent childbearing to dissect the factors influencing career paths. Findings reveal that women experiencing live births endure persistent decreases in labor earnings, highlighting a pronounced “motherhood penalty”. This penalty encompasses reduced income, diminished employment probabilities and shortened work hours. Conversely, women who face non-live births initially experience a temporary income and wage drop, which recovers, indicating a less enduring economic impact. This recovery suggests that the adverse labor market consequences of pregnancy loss, while immediate and significant, do not persist in the long term as they do with live births.
Published in
OSF Preprints
DOI
https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/2m4xb
Subjects
Notes
Open Access
CC-By Attribution 4.0 International
#588730