Date of Award
8-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Economics
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Devon Goory
Committee Member
Dr. Jonathan Leganza
Committee Member
Dr. Curtis J. Simon
Committee Member
Dr. Scott R. Templeton
Abstract
This dissertation studies the impact of childbirth and parenthood on the labor market outcomes and decisions of parents. Of the three chapters, the first two talk about how childbirth affects the labor supply decisions of the parents and the subsequent impact on earnings. The third chapter talks about the effect of disruption in the childcare arrangements on the employment outcomes of parents during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
The first chapter measures the short- and long-run declines (penalties) in annual earnings associated with the first childbirth for parents in the United States by exploiting the heterogeneity in their gender, educational attainment and the age at which they decide to have their first child. Childbirth induces a temporary/permanent transition out of employment and, with an increase in the number of households where both parents have to work to ensure a proper standard of living, deciding when to have the first child becomes important to understand the impacts on career path. There exists ambiguity regarding the potential role of delaying childbirth in affecting women's earnings and other labor market outcomes. Overall, in the short run, women experience a larger and statistically significant pre-and post-childbirth earnings gap than men, irrespective of the timing of first childbirth and educational backgrounds. Less educated mothers with early childbirth are affected the most, relative to the more educated mothers (of all ages at first birth) and men of all demographic groups. More educated older first-time mothers face the largest long-run penalty, whereas more educated younger mothers recover in terms of mitigating their earning gaps. Their earnings surpass the earnings of men of similar demographic and educational backgrounds. In both cases, men experience almost zero (or very low) penalty, with younger fathers being slightly more affected than older fathers.
The second chapter measures the penalties from the perspective of employment participation associated with the first childbirth by exploiting similar heterogeneity in gender, academic backgrounds and parents' age at first childbirth. As with earnings, women face larger decreases than men in terms of their employment participation due to parenthood. The short-run pre-and post-childbirth employment participation gaps are largest for the less educated younger mothers, relative to all other parents. In the long run, most women face larger employment participation gaps relative to men, with the exception of the more-educated younger mothers whose participation surpasses that of men of similar demographic and educational backgrounds. In both cases, men are least affected by the birth of the first child, although younger fathers are somewhat more affected than older fathers.
The third chapter studies the parents' adjustments in their work patterns to accommodate childcare, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. It studies how different demographic and socio-economic characteristics of households impacted their likelihood of facing childcare disruptions due to the pandemic in response to the new restrictions and regulations on in-person care. More adults in the household, being white, and being married lowered the likelihood of facing disruptions, while having more children, being a woman, receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, being black, etc., increased it. The household characteristics affected the responses to disruptions in childcare in different ways for different people. More educated parents, being married, and having more children increased the probability of taking paid leave. Women were likelier to leave their jobs and not look for new ones. More educated parents were more likely to supervise their children while simultaneously working. Families receiving SNAP benefits were more likely to lose their jobs than others. Having more children, being a woman and being black increased the probability that parents had to make some adjustments to their work patterns to cater for the children.
Recommended Citation
Dey, Titir, "Essays on the Impact of Childbirth on Parenthood and Childcare" (2025). All Dissertations. 4089.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/4089