Baby and Pay: The Family Gap in Finland

Working Papers 236 Jenni Kellokumpu

Abstract

The effect of career interruptions due to parental leave is estimated based on longitudinal data set covering the years 1995–2002. The estimated model controls for hours worked. There appears to be a significant negative relation between career interruptions due to childbirth and subsequent wages for women in Finland. The effect for men is quite the opposite. The estimation results imply that human capital depreciation is indeed very appropriate when explaining the family gap.