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The hidden gender dynamics of parenthood

A new study finds a surprising disparity in the gender dynamics of parenthood, with British mothers facing a significantly larger earnings penalty when their first child is a daughter rather than a son.

The negative impact of parenthood on women's labor market outcomes compared to men's is well documented. After childbirth, women experience what is known as a "child penalty," namely a sharp decline in employment rates, working hours, career progression, and earnings, while these outcomes show little change among fathers.

"The Daughter Penalty" by Sonia Bhalotra, Damian Clarke and Angelina Nazarova uses over a decade of data from the UK Longitudinal Household Survey to explore how the gender of a firstborn child affects the labor market outcomes, household roles, mental health and relationship satisfaction of both parents.

Looking at the outcomes of mothers relative to fathers when the first child is a daughter rather than a son, the finds:

• Mothers of daughters see their earnings fall by 26% more than the earnings of fathers of daughters in the five years after birth, compared to just 3% in the case of mothers (relative to fathers) of sons. Employment rates and working hours show a similar pattern.
• Mothers relative to fathers spend 10 to 15 percentage points more time on childcare and household chores when the child is a daughter rather than a son.
• Mothers report less progressive gender attitudes after birth when the child is a daughter
• Mothers of daughters report poorer mental health, and fathers report higher relationship satisfaction, both consistent with the more unequal distribution of domestic work following a daughter.

A notable finding is that parents who are college-educated and progressive in their attitudes, while less likely to suffer a child penalty, are more likely to exhibit a daughter penalty.

Sonia Bhalotra, professor of economics and CAGE theme lead, said, "Our findings imply that girls and boys in the U.K. are, on average, growing up in different home environments, with girls growing up in households in which mothers are less likely to work, carry a larger burden of housework and childcare, exhibit higher mental stress, and report less gender-progressive views. This is a mechanism for the inter-generational transmission of gendered norms that has not previously been considered.

"The patterns revealed in the findings may help explain the persistence of gender inequality in the labor market and a need for policies to address the hidden gender dynamics within families, especially around the time of childbirth."