There is no experience similar to being a mother. It can have many drawbacks, but it always compensates a lot. Even so, we are aware that there is still a long way to go so that society and the world of work do not penalize women who decide to have children. That is undoubtedly one of the reasons that cause the birth rate in Spain to be lower every year. Currently, Spanish women only have 1.4 children on average, compared to 2.1 in the United States, 2 in the United Kingdom, or 1.9 in Germany. Also the average age to have the first child is delayed in Spain (31 years on average) compared to 27 in Germany or 25 in the United States.
The study ‘The child penalty in Spain’ (“Children penalize in Spain) carried out by the Bank of Spain reinforces the idea that maternity punishes mothers at an economic level: the salaries of Spanish women go down ” meaningful and persistent “ when they have their first child .
In fact, while women lose 11.4% of their wage income in the first year of the baby’s life , men’s wages are “hardly affected by parenthood .” But the difference is even greater after ten years of being a mother: women lose 33% of their salary income and men only 5%.
Fewer days worked, when you have children
According to this report by the Bank of Spain, the salary drop for Spanish parents would be similar to that of Sweden and Denmark, with an average loss of 28% of their salary income 10 years after having a child.
Among the causes of the salary difference, he explains that women’s days worked drop significantly after having children, while theirs are not affected. All this, taking into account that before becoming parents, their working hours were very similar.
There are also large gender differences with respect to part-time work : the chances of applying for a position of this type among women increase by 34% in the 10 years following the birth of the first child.
Fewer studies imply a higher salary drop
The study also reveals important differences depending on the educational level of mothers: those with a university degree lose less than 10% of their work income in the first year of motherhood, while those with a lower educational level approach a 16% cut .
As detailed, university women work more intensively part-time, while those with a lower educational level are more likely to work fewer days. In the case of men, the educational level is not significant at all.
The economic penalty is considerably higher for women without a university degree, who are more likely to leave their job, compared to those who do, who tend to keep their job by opting for the reduced working hours.
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In Babies and More | None is better than another: let’s stop competing and compare mothers who stay at home with mothers who go to work, Births in Spain continue to fall and are already the lowest since there are statistics, Almost 90 percent of Spanish women under 30 are not yet mothers: these are the reasons
