Last year I noted a Statistics Canada study that showed that women who have children earn less than women who do not (about 12% less overall). A new study by some Harvard economists looking at men and women with MBAs has come to a similar conclusion. I’ve noted a similar study in Canada.
The Harvard study followed the earnings of men and women who graduated from top tier U.S. business schools between 1990 and 2006. It found that, while the earnings at the outset of their careers were nearly identical, after a decade, female earnings had fallen behind significantly. While the evidence did not support a finding that women are less productive when at work, the principle explanation for the wage gap was the lost time from work owing to child care responsibilities. In short, because women give birth, and also spend more time than men raising the children, they miss more work and are less able to work long hours. This is reflected in women’s earnings over time.
If greater child care responsibilities is the explanation for the fact that women constantly earn much less than men (on average), do you think that this is something that the government should try to ‘fix’ through legislation? In other words, is it a social problem, or just the proper functioning of labour markets?
