Sometimes it really feels like whatever we do, we just can’t win.
On the one hand fertility experts are telling us that couples who leave it too late to start their families run the risk of not being able to conceive at all – because our fertility declines rapidly from the age of 35.
On the other hand EVERYONE tells us to live our lives before we settle down and commit to a mortgage and kids.
In the midst of all this, new research has emerged revealing that women who have their first child between the ages of 25 and 35 are unlikely to ever catch up to their partner again in terms of potential earnings.
Essentially, this 10-year window – in which many of us do start having kids – is the most problematic for our salaries.
Referencing only married couples, a study published by Census Bureau found that immediately after having your first child the pay gap between spouses doubles, as the mother’s pay drops while the father’s rises. This makes sense.
However, the study goes on to find that when the wife is aged between 25 and 35 when she has the couple’s first child, her pay never recovers relative to that of her husband’s.
In comparision, women who have their first baby either before they’re 25 years old or after they’re 35 eventually close the pay gap with their partner.
This 10-year window is recognised as “prime career-building years”, and women lose out the most because this window is when women most commonly have children.
The New York Times attributes this to the idea that women younger than 25 tend to have lower-earning jobs, and may have more flexible jobs and more time to look after children.
They also claim that women over 35 are more likely to be well-established and so can demand more flexibility, plus are more likely to only have one child.
Either way, the study suggests that women are penalised for having children, whereas men aren’t despite being equally responsible for the child.
If pregnancy and maternity rights were better accounted for by employers, and working cultures more flexible in general, the gender pay gap for women between 25-35 may not be as severe.
It’s said that the gender pay gap won’t close for another 217 years; if that’s the case we have a long way to go before gender pay disparity issues are resolved. Choosing to have children shouldn’t be detrimental to a woman’s career when it takes two people to decide to start a family.
Via Grazia
