A new study from NC State University reveals that mothers earn less than both men and women without children, even in jobs traditionally seen as “women’s work.” On the other hand, fathers generally earn more after having children, with white fathers benefiting the most compared to Black, Asian, or Hispanic fathers.

The researchers looked into the “parenthood wage gap” typically seen in professional jobs, where women earn less after becoming mothers while men do not. They wanted to see if this wage gap also exists among care workers.

Exploring the gap

Care work includes jobs like nursing, healthcare aides, K-12 teaching, childcare, clergy, and social work—occupations focused on caring for others who can’t care for themselves.

The researchers used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which includes information on work, pay, and family status, covering over 3 million people. They focused on 805,786 care workers aged 18 to 37, using data from 1980, 1990, and each year from 2000 to 2018.

“We were interested in care workers because we thought employers may use stereotypes linked to parental identity to determine rewards, and care workers may leverage their parental identity to signal appropriateness for work, possibly leading to higher, rather than lower, earnings,” the researchers explain. “We were also interested in the role of race and gender, which may signal different levels of appropriateness to employers according to how they fulfill employer-held gender and racial stereotypes.”

Motherhood penalty

The findings were clear: childless women earned over 12% more than mothers, with the wage gap being largest for white women. Women of color also saw a wage drop after becoming mothers, but the gap was smaller, likely due to stereotypes about women of color being more suited for care work.

Fathers, however, typically earned more after having children, though race played a role here too. Black fathers saw a slight wage decrease after becoming parents when other factors were considered.

In conclusion, the study shows that being seen as suitable for care work does not lead to higher wages. Instead, workplace practices and culture continue to disadvantage mothers and people of color, reinforcing inequality. The belief that mothers are less compatible with paid work remains strong.

“Put simply, our findings suggest that being seen as appropriate often does not result in wage advantages in care work,” the authors conclude. “Organizational practices and culture continue to disadvantage mothers and people of color, reinforcing inequality.

“In short, our results highlight the permanency of the belief that mothers are not compatible with paid work.”