A new model of parental time investments: a paradigm shift for addressing gender inequality in the labor market

Cuevas Ruiz, Pilar, Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio, Manfredi, Sveva and Sevilla Sanz, Maria Almudena ORCID: 0000-0001-6143-5903 (2025) A new model of parental time investments: a paradigm shift for addressing gender inequality in the labor market. Oxford Review of Economic Policy. ISSN 0266-903X (In Press)

Text (Cuevas_Gimenez_Manfredi_Sevilla OxREP submitted) - Accepted Version Pending embargo until 1 January 2100. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (474kB)

Abstract

This paper introduces a new framework for understanding the persistence of the motherhood penalty by emphasizing the role of on-call care. Using a pseudo-panel event study based on the 2003–2022 American Time Use Survey (ATUS), we quantify how different types of parental care time contribute to post-childbirth labor market outcomes. Our results show that gender gaps in on-call care, not primary childcare, drive the long-term reduction in mothers’ paid work. In the first two years after birth, declines in paid work are largely explained by primary interactive childcare. Over time, however, on-call care becomes the dominant factor. This shift is not accounted for in existing labor market models, nor in standard policies such as parental leave and childcare subsidies. We argue that the persistent economic costs of gender inequality can be better understood and addressed by integrating the temporal and unpredictable nature of caregiving into economic theory and policy design.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Date Deposited:	20 Oct 2025 09:48
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2025 09:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/129843

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