The COVID-19 Pandemic and a Resurgence of Motherhood Wage Penalties in the United States

BackgroundThe total motherhood wage gap among U.S. college-educated women closed over the past two decades and was eliminated by the early 2010s. It is not clear, however, whether the COVID-19 pandemic reversed these trends.MethodsDrawing on nationally representative data from the 2000–2022 Current Population Surveys, this study uses linear regression models to estimate trends in the total motherhood wage gap among college-educated and non-college-educated women who work full-time.ResultsIn the decade leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, college-educated women with children did not pay a substantial motherhood wage penalty, but their wages began to decline at the onset of the pandemic, and the decline accelerated over the following years. By the end of 2022, college-educated women paid a 6% wage penalty for motherhood. In contrast to college-educated women, women without a college degree did not experience a substantial change in the motherhood wage penalty during the pandemic.ContributionOur study provides new evidence indicating that by 2022, three years into the pandemic, college-educated mothers experienced the highest motherhood wage penalty since the turn of the 20th century, reversing two decades of progress for this group of women. This study reveals the longer-term career-related ramifications of the pandemic for college-educated mothers and highlights the precarity of mothers’ economic progress related to external shocks, especially those that disrupt childcare and educational systems.