IZA Discussion Paper No. 263

This Discussion Paper is issued within the framework of IZA's research area 7KH)XWXUH RI :RUN Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the institute. Research disseminated by IZA may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent, nonprofit limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) supported by the Deutsche Post AG. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its research networks, research support, and visitors and doctoral programs. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. The current research program deals with (1) mobility and flexibility of labor markets, (2) internationalization of labor markets and European integration, (3) the welfare state and labor markets, (4) labor markets in transition, (5) the future of work, (6) project evaluation and (7) general labor economics. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. The effect of children and career interruptions on the family gap is analysed based on Danish longitudinal data covering the years 1980-1995. The estimated model controls for unobserved time-constant heterogeneity. The results show that when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, the negative effect of children on mothers' wages disappears. The main effect of children seems to be loss of human capital accumulation during childbirth periods. Beside this, there is no indication that children have long-term effects on the earnings potential of their mothers, holding experience constant. authors want to thank two anonymous referees for very helpful comments on a former version of the paper and Kristina Venø Rostbo who has done most of the computational work behind this paper. The paper has been presented at a workshop in Stockholm 9-10 June, 1999, supported by the Social Research Councils in the UK and Scandinavia.