abstract: 'Despite a large literature documenting the impact of childbearing on

  women''s wages, less understanding exists of the actual employment

  trajectories that mothers take and the circumstances surrounding

  different paths. We use sequence analysis to chart the entire employment

  trajectory for a diverse sample of U.S. women by race/ethnicity and

  nativity in the first year following childbirth. Using data from the

  1996-2008 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation and

  sample selection models, we find that women employed before childbirth

  show a high degree of labor market continuity. However, a notable share

  of them (24 \%) took less stable paths by dropping out or scaling back

  work. In addition, mothers'' attachment to the labor force is

  simultaneously supported by personal endowments and family resources yet

  constrained by economic hardship and job characteristics. Moreover,

  mothers'' employment patterns differ by race/ethnicity and nativity.

  Nonwhite women (blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) who were employed before

  childbirth exhibited greater labor market continuation than white women.

  For immigrant women, those with a shorter length of residence were more

  likely to curtail employment than native-born women, but those with

  longer duration of residence show greater labor force attachment. We

  discuss the implications of these findings for income inequality and

  public policy.'
affiliation: 'Lu, Y (Corresponding Author), Columbia Univ, Dept Sociol, 606 W 122nd
  St, New York, NY 10027 USA.

  Lu, Yao, Columbia Univ, Dept Sociol, 606 W 122nd St, New York, NY 10027 USA.

  Wang, Julia Shu-Huah, Univ Hong Kong, Dept Social Work \& Social Adm, Pokfulam Rd,
  Pokfulam, Hong Kong, Peoples R China.

  Han, Wen-Jui, New York Univ, Silver Sch Social Work, 1 Washington Sq North, New
  York, NY 10003 USA.'
author: Lu, Yao and Wang, Julia Shu-Huah and Han, Wen-Jui
author-email: yao.lu@columbia.edu
author_list:
- family: Lu
  given: Yao
- family: Wang
  given: Julia Shu-Huah
- family: Han
  given: Wen-Jui
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1007/s13524-016-0541-3
eissn: 1533-7790
files: []
issn: 0070-3370
journal: DEMOGRAPHY
keywords: Employment; Trajectory; Motherhood; Nativity; Race and ethnicity
keywords-plus: 'UNITED-STATES; SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS; IMMIGRANT WOMEN; ETHNIC VARIATIONS;

  WAGE PENALTY; LIFE-COURSE; CHILD-CARE; 1ST BIRTH; WORK; GENDER'
language: English
month: FEB
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '80'
orcid-numbers: Wang, Julia Shu-Huah/0000-0002-6128-8242
pages: 93-118
papis_id: 878e6b36a6ee0fb87b826838cab80f5d
ref: Lu2017womensshortterm
researcherid-numbers: Wang, Julia Shu-Huah/ABB-7928-2021
times-cited: '43'
title: 'Women''s Short-Term Employment Trajectories Following Birth: Patterns, Determinants,
  and Variations by Race/Ethnicity and Nativity'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000394328900005
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '28'
volume: '54'
web-of-science-categories: Demography
year: '2017'