[roenxi]

> During the twentieth century, women’s education levels continuously increased, and in most high-income countries they are now substantially higher than for men.

> However, Goldin has shown that the bulk of this earnings difference is now between [sic] and women in the same occupation, and that it largely arises with the birth of the first child.

Interesting situation developing if the main effort is in educating women who then leave the workforce. I assume one of these is going to have to give - presumably who takes primary caregiver responsbilities.

[sandworm101]

I wonder how much, if any, this is balanced on the male side. How many young men re-enter or double down on work once their first child appears? Women may drop out to become primary caregivers but how many men drop into jobs that they previously would not have taken? Go to any military recruitment center and you will find young men with same story: "My girlfriend is pregnant; I need a real job." I'm reminded of that classic Simpsons story where Homer has to abandon his dream job at the bowling alley to take a soul-crushing but higher-paying job at the nuclear plant. Is decreased workforce participation by Marge offset by increased productivity from Homer?

A corollary to this is that Homer's choice of job was dictated by the needs of his family. For many today, the big raise must appear before any decision to have kids. Work now dictates family.

[nineplay]

A more egalitarian solution would be longer paid parental leave and earlier free childcare. Are women leaving jobs due to a genuine desire to be a full-time parent, or are women leaving jobs because the alternative is putting a three-month-old in prohibitively expensive daycare?

[AussieWog93]

Anecdata, but most women I've spoken to prefer to delay childcare until the kid is around a year old.

There seems to be good reasons for not separating an extremely young child from their mother.

[crashingintoyou]

One thing to note from https://ofboysandmen.substack.com/p/the-gender-pay-gap-is-no... is this when comparing same-sex and opposite-sex couples:

"the impact on earnings for the birth mother is [almost identical in both family types](https://www.ifau.se/globalassets/pdf/se/2016/wp2016-08-does-...). Meanwhile, the nonbirth mothers in the lesbian couples show a similar earnings pattern to fathers in the heterosexual ones"

[Condition1952]

Caring for a baby is seen as an economic catastrophe, unless the baby is not yours

[bakuninsbart]

Hungary, a country I'd not usually quote for progressive policy has a great solution to this: Women get their subsequent income taxes reduced by 25% for each child they get.

This heavily incentivises mothers to return to the workforce, and couples to plan around this. It is also generous enough to be a real boon to young parents.