The timing of childbearing and women's wages

Early child bearers are more vulnerable to the adverse impact of children on wages than are those who delay childbearing. Early child bearers are likely to experience a higher wage penalty because their career interruptions occur during the critical period of career building. Education reduces the magnitude of the penalty. With the use of data from the young women cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey, I investigated the wage losses associated with the presence of children, net of work experience, while addressing unobserved heterogeneity. Consistent with life course theory, the timing of childbearing significantly influences the extent to which this event shapes women's life chances.