EFFECT OF MOTHERHOOD ON FEMALE SALARIES IN LATINAMERICA

Abstract

 In this article the effect of motherhood on salaries in Latin America is analy­zed, studying the number of children and the structure of their ages. The methodology used estimated Mincer equations of labor income per hour with additional use of anti-bias Heckman and Blinder Oaxaca decomposition equation. Results show that mothers earn 13% less salary than women who are not mothers; this difference amounts to 21% when the mother has children younger than five years. For each additional child, the costopportunity for motherhood increases 1.2% of a woman’s salary. Discrimination by employers ands labor informality are the main reasons which explain this phenomenon