Na segunda-feira, dia 6 de maio, tem lugar uma sessão dos ISEG Research Seminars. O orador convidado será Hanna Wang.
Title
Job Search and Mobility Over the Life-Cycle: Implications for the Child Penalty
Abstract
Using Dutch administrative and survey data, we document that women’s job mobility drops around childbirth. Women make fewer job-to-job transitions starting one year before birth and continuing for many years after. They are also less likely to engage in on-the-job search and tend to work in jobs with low amenities, such as irregular hours. We develop a life-cycle model of labor supply, job search, and job switching in which pregnant women and mothers face higher search costs. Jobs are characterized as bundles of wages and amenities, where amenities reduce work disutility. We use the model to quantify a novel channel through which the child penalty operates: because (expecting) mothers search less, they remain in jobs with lower wages and fewer amenities, leading to lower employment and earnings. We find that search costs related to childbirth reduce lifetime earnings by 1.8%, accounting for 18.45% of the child penalty. We validate the model using a recent reform that eliminated tenure requirements for parental leave. Following the reform, mothers increased job switching before birth but decreased employment in the year of birth.
