The ten-year pay gap for moms

From the NYT.

There are some interesting comments in the comment section.

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"Today, married couples in the United States are likely to have similar educational and career backgrounds. So while the typical husband still earns more than his wife, spouses have increasingly similar incomes. But that changes once their first child arrives.
Immediately after the first birth, the pay gap between spouses doubles, according to a recent study — entirely driven by a drop in the mother’s pay. Men’s wages keep rising. The same pattern shows up in a variety of research.

But the recent study reveals a twist. When women have their first child between age 25 and 35, their pay never recovers, relative to that of their husbands. Yet women who have their first baby either before 25 or after 35 — before their careers get started or once they’re established — eventually close the pay gap with their husbands."

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/upshot/the-10-year-baby-window-that-is-the-key-to-the-womens-pay-gap.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_up_20180411&nl=upshot&nl_art=0&nlid=74838209emc%3Dedit_up_20180411&ref=headline&te=1

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One commenter pointed that in the post-Reagan economy of the United States, all of a sudden it took two full-time incomes just to keep one's head above water, and that businesses never caught up with (or WANTED to catch up with) the new normal for working parents. I thought that was an interesting point. And research today shows that fewer and fewer babies are being born in the United States. Most couples just can't afford to have children, maybe? Or lack of adequate and affordable health care or day care for kids?