Estimates of the Motherhood Penalty in Russia

The paper concerns systematic differences in the wages of women with children and childless women, or « motherhood penalty» , in modernRussia. The study bases on the 23rd wave of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS HSE). The authors employ a two-step model, the first stage of which uses a binary logistic regression to measure the selectivity of maternity, while the second reveals the effect of maternity status on the average monthly salary of women, adjusting for the observed selectivity. The obtained estimates indicate an average motherhood penalty of approximately 4% with a significant differentiation by women's education level. The authors conclude that high-educated women face 1,5 times higher penalty, and also receive it earlier: the difference in salaries of childless women and mothers with higher education appears after the first birth, and among women without higher education this phenomena is observed only after the second birth. In conclusion, the authors discuss the limitations of the presented analysis and indicate possible directions for future research on this topic.