Young mothers have the lowest lifetime earnings

It has previously been documented that mothers who work full time typically earn less than women who have never had children. But are wages also affected by when a woman chooses to have her first child?

A new study by CBS and Washington University addresses this issue. The researchers analysed data from more than 1.5 million Danish women between 25–60 years of age. One of the researchers behind the project, Associate Professor Fane Naja Groes from CBS, concludes that women with a high salary and several years of work experience put off having their first child.

“Women who are more than 31 years old when they have their first child – seen over an entire work life – earn more than women who have their first child earlier. This turns out to be the trend regardless of whether the women have a higher education or not,” she explains.

Women who have their first child between 28–31 years of age temporarily lose 65 percent of their wages on average while on leave. Women who are over the age of 31, however, lose 37 percent of their income on average compared to what they received prior to having their first child.

“This may be the case because older women are more strongly attached to their work and, for example, are more likely to work in the public sector. Perhaps they also receive maternity pay to a greater degree and have a better chance of returning to the job they had before having their first child,” says Groes, adding that the drop in earnings can also be explained by the fact that some women choose to work part time or to stay at home with their child once they have given birth.

According to Groes, however, their study does not indicate what the ideal age is to become a mother in relation to the size of one’s pay check:

“Just because the women with the highest salary were over the age of 31 when they had their first child does not mean that people should wait to have children until then. We must also assume that the individual’s personal motivation to have a career and earn a good salary is also a decisive factor. This motivation may also be the reason women delay having children. Groes and her American colleagues will now further examine why the statistics look the way they do.

Read more about the study published in the scientific journal Plos One, or contact Fane Naja Groes if you have any questions.