In this paper, we use twin birth as an instrument to estimate the effects of fertility on female labor
force participation using 70 censuses from 36 countries in 1990–2010. We document a strong
relationship between the gender wage gap and the size of the motherhood penalty. The penalty
is smallest in countries with small gender wage gaps. Both cross- and within-country
relationships between motherhood penalty and gender wage gap remain strong and negative even
when we condition on per-capita GDP and educational attainment. Our estimates suggest that a
reduction of 1-percentage-point in the gender wage gap is associated with a decrease of 0.45–
0.65 percentage-points in the estimated motherhood employment penalty.
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Keywords: Child penalty, female labor supply, family size, gender wage gap, twin birth
JEF Classification: J13, J16, J18, J22