Cross-Country Evidence on Motherhood Employment and Wage Gaps: The Role of Work–Family Policies and Their Interaction

This article investigates the effects of work–family policies on motherhood employment and wage gaps. We study twenty-eight European countries, including Central and Eastern European countries. We show that unless the leave period is exceptionally long, enhanced childcare and leave policies help women combine family responsibilities with paid work. The positive effect of leaves is, however, much weaker in countries where childcare is limited. In these countries, improving access to childcare is therefore a more efficient policy than offering extended leaves. Because extended leaves encourage women to stay outside of the labor market, they are found to lead to wage penalties.