Review of Paper: Understanding the"Family Gap" in Pay for Women with Children Study addresses an economic/social issue using statistical analysis: While the gap in wages between women and men has narrowed over time in the US, the wage difference between women with children and those without has widened. Paper cites evidence indicating the gap in pay between men and women began to narrow only in the 1970’s after remaining unchanged the previous 40 years

Understanding the "Family Gap"... 2 Paper suggests that the trend is explained by social policy in US which is geared more toward decreasing gender discrimination than in addressing specific problems faced by women with children in labor market. Specifically, author states evidence suggests that mandated maternity leave for working women increases their pay.

Figure 1 Paper presents summary information on male/female wages over time in US compared to other industrialized countries. Figure 1 Table 1 Author argues low relative wage of women to men in US largely reflects labor market disadvantages of women with children. Table 1 Table 2 Comparison maternity leave and child care policies across countries. Table 2 Argues most industrialized nations have worked to equalize opportunities for women and have addressed labor problems among women with children, while the US has done only the former.

Table 4 1. Mean wage for all women has grown from relative to men’s wage from 1978 to Wages for women without children are higher than that for mothers in 1978 and this discrepancy grew from 1978 to Wages among married mothers increased relative to men from 1978 to 1994 but remained well behind that of women without children. 4. The discrepancy in wages between women with children and childless females arises mainly from the labor market outcomes of mothers who divorced or were never married. a. In 1994, the mean wage of unmarried mothers was well below that of childless women and the discrepancy was larger than in b. Wages among never-married mothers actually grew more slowly than men’s from 1978 to 1994.

Table 6 Regression analysis determining wages among young men and women. Table 6  Interpret coefficients for continuous and dummy variables.  Interpret R 2 across models.  Perform hypothesis tests. Why is regression analysis a more appropriate method to test hypothesis that women’s wages are lagging due to motherhood? Do the coefficient estimates and significance results suggest mothers are penalized in the labor market?

The empirical results are consistent with a number of hypotheses: For example, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that women with children are discriminated against by employers, although this is not the author’s hypothesis. Author’s argument is “the lack of access to job- protected maternity leave…[is the] structural barrier to the progress of women with children in employment settings that value work experience, job tenure, and a good match between employer and employee.” (p. 149) Author reviews possible counter effects mandated maternity leave policy may have on labor market outcomes of mothers.possible counter effects Argues maternity policy allows mothers to return to same job and continue to benefit from wage increases associated with job tenure. Cites evidence on this question.Cites evidence on this question.

In conclusion, author cites policy implications For example, the recent changes in welfare policy in the US induces young mothers to work. Present labor market conditions may leave them in disadvantaged position. This is an extremely well written paper. Refer to this when you write your own!