Fatherhood and wage inequality in Britain, Finland, and Germany

Objective This study investigates whether and how fatherhood shapes the wage distribution in Britain, Finland, and Germany. Background Existing research debates whether fatherhood is associated with greater wages. However, it remains unclear whether the association between fatherhood and wages varie...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of marriage and family 2022-02, Vol.84 (1), p.273-290
Main Authors: Icardi, Rossella, Hägglund, Anna Erika, Fernández‐Salgado, Mariña
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comparative studies
Earnings
Educational Attainment
Families & family life
Family (Sociological Unit)
Family policy
fatherhood
Fathers
Fines & penalties
Inequality
Labor market
Males
Marital Status
Market economies
Men
Original
Socioeconomic factors
Wage differential
Wages
Wages & salaries
Work, Time Use, and Family Outcomes
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective This study investigates whether and how fatherhood shapes the wage distribution in Britain, Finland, and Germany. Background Existing research debates whether fatherhood is associated with greater wages. However, it remains unclear whether the association between fatherhood and wages varies along the wage distribution as well as institutional contexts. To explore this, we compare three countries that differ in their wage bargaining institutions and family policies. Method We use unconditional quantile regression on longitudinal data from the 1995 to 2016 waves of the Finnish Linked Employer Employee data, German Socio‐Economic Panel, and UK Longitudinal Household Study. To control for selection into fatherhood, we combine quantile regressions with fixed effects techniques. Results Results show little evidence of substantial fatherhood wage effects along men's wage distribution. In all countries, fathers' higher wages at the median and top of the wage distribution are mostly accounted for by selection, but fatherhood shifts the bottom part of the distribution to the left particularly in the UK. Conclusions The extent to which having a child affects men's wages across the wage distribution is similar across three diverse policy contexts. Yet, differences across the wage distribution are larger in the UK. We argue this may be linked to its higher level of inequality typical of liberal labour markets.
ISSN:0022-2445
1741-3737
DOI:10.1111/jomf.12792