Parenthood, Human Capital and Employment over the Life Course

Claudia Reiter, Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna
Sonja Spitzer, Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital

Skills shortages are a growing concern in high-income countries. One commonly proposed solution is to increase the labor force participation of skilled women, particularly in countries like Austria, where mothers take extended career breaks after childbirth. However, the relationship between skills and post-birth employment remains unclear. Utilizing an innovative dataset that merges Austrian register data with tested skill scores, we investigate how career trajectories of higher-skilled parents compare to those of their lower-skilled counterparts. The study fills a critical gap at the intersection of parenthood, employment, and human capital. Our findings reveal significant gender disparities in post-birth employment patterns that extend well into later life. On average, mothers take 14 months of paid parental leave, while fathers take nine days. On top, many women remain absent from the workforce long after their paid leave has concluded. Importantly, these disparities persist across all skill levels. Higher-skilled fathers take slightly longer leave, but leave duration is long for mothers of all skill levels. This indicates that structural and cultural barriers discourage women from re-entering the labor market even at the upper end of the skill distribution. To unlock this untapped potential, strategies supporting the reintegration of mothers into the workforce are needed.

Keywords: Human Capital, Education, and Work, Gender Dynamics

See extended abstract.