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Job Changes Following Childbirth

Are Women Trading Compensation for Family-Responsive Work Conditions?

University of Iowa

JENNIFER L. GLASS

University of Iowa

As women increasingly maintain labor force participation following childbirth, job changing rather than labor force withdrawal is on the rise. This article presents a theoretical perspective that takes into account the increasing financial responsibilities of mothers and modifies human capital propositions concerning job changing. We investigate initial differences between women who change jobs following childbirth and those who stay with their prenatal employer, as well as the differences between changers' prenatal and postpartum jobs. Then we use regression analysis of change scores to assess whether women make trade-offs between compensation and family accommodations. Results reveal that women are not making job changes that maximize family accommodations at the expense of monetary compensation. Rather, they suggest that women are motivated by financial and family responsibilities to increase their share of both dimensions, although their improvement on both dimensions is stunted because of their weak market position.

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