Family policy and the child penalty in pay: a comparison between France and Hungary

Ariane Pailhé, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Zsolt Speder, HCSO Demographic Research Institute

This paper measures the consequences of childbearing on female and male income. We discuss the role of individual determinants, such as education level and career breaks, employment determinants, such as job characteristics, and institutional settings, such as family policies, labour market and gender norms. The comparative setting between Hungary and France is a way to test whether distinct policies and cultural factors may explain female employment behaviour across countries. Those countries have clearly different welfare regimes and gender norms. The first and second wave of the Hungarian GGS, the first wave of French GGS data, and the French survey “Families and Employers” are used. Once controlled for the jobs’ characteristics and selection into employment, there is a penalty attached to time out of the labour market, which more affects women. We don’t find any direct negative impact of children on French women’s current hourly wage, once controlled for career breaks.