We assess if and how motherhood wage penalties change in response to the design of parental leave regulations. Focusing on Germany, we compare sweeps of reforms inspired by opposite principles. One allowed for longer periods out of paid work in the 1990s, the other prompted quicker re-entry in the labour market in the late 2000s. These reforms may have first exacerbated and later mitigated wage losses for new mothers, albeit each component of leave schemes may trigger separate, and at times zero-sum, mechanisms. We rely on Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data and a difference-in-differences design. Focusing on first-time mothers, we find that motherhood wage penalties were substantial (around 20–30 per cent of pre-birth wages) and also changed little during the 1990s. As parental leave reform triggered longer time spent on leave coupled with better tenure accumulation, wage losses for mothers remained stable in this first period. Following parental leave reform in the late 2000s, instead, the wage prospects of first-time mothers improved, thanks in part to shorter work interruptions and increased work hours. We suggest that the nuts and bolts of leave schemes can be fine-tuned to reduce child penalties and, thus, gender wage disparities.

中文翻译：

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育儿假会使孕产假工资的处罚变得更糟吗？

我们会根据育儿假规定的设计来评估是否以及如何改变孕产工资罚金。以德国为中心，我们比较了受相反原则启发的一系列改革。一个在1990年代允许较长时期的有偿工作退出，另一个在2000年代后期促使更快地重新进入劳动力市场。这些改革可能首先加剧了新母亲的工资损失，随后又减轻了新母亲的工资损失，尽管休假计划的每个组成部分都可能触发单独的机制，有时触发零和机制。我们依靠社会经济专家组（SOEP）数据和差异设计。以初生母亲为重点，我们发现母亲的工资处罚很高（约占产前工资的20％至30％），在1990年代也几乎没有变化。随着育儿假改革引发更长的休假时间以及更佳的任期积累，母亲的工资损失在第一时期保持稳定。取而代之的是，在2000年代后期进行了育儿假改革之后，初次母亲的工资前景有所改善，这在一定程度上得益于工作时间的缩短和工作时间的增加。我们建议可以微调休假计划的细节，以减少对儿童的惩罚，从而减少性别工资差异。