Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Across countries women with children suffer large pay penalties (Harkness & Waldfogel, 2003). Occupational downgrading following childbirth is one potential explanation for this. Moreover, as the competing demands of work and families are greater in some jobs than others we might expect the risk of occupational downgrading, and of exiting employment or moving to part-time work, to vary by industry or occupation.

This paper examines the employment trajectories of women up to five years following childbirth, and how individual, family and employment characteristics, observed prior to childbirth, influence career outcomes. Using 2010-2017 Understanding Society data, we assess the extent to which women, by opting out of employment, moving to part-time work or moving to lower status occupations, ‘downgrade’ their careers following childbirth. Using sequence analysis, we first produce a rich descriptive picture of the typical pathways by which occupational (up)downgrading occurs. Second, we examine how a broader range of job characteristics (working hours, sector, etc.) influence post-birth employment outcomes.

Change usually takes place 3 to 5-years after birth as most women who return to work go back to the same occupation but withdraw from full-time employment or switch to different occupations over time. Staying with the same employer is associated with a lower risk of downward occupational mobility but also with lower chances of progressing (upgrading). Similarly, for women– but not men- working in the public sector or in health or education is linked with the ability to maintain the same occupational grade, but with little chance of progression.