Cultural‐Policy Framework and Mothers' Earnings Penalty: A European Comparison
利用13个欧洲国家2006-2022年数据，研究发现母亲收入惩罚在10国存在，瑞典、挪威等国最严重；高最低工资和集中化工资谈判能有效减轻惩罚，而工作家庭政策效果有限。
ABSTRACT This article explores the diversity of cultural and policy contexts in Western European countries and examines their role in explaining the persistent and heterogeneous motherhood penalty. Using harmonized European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‐SILC) data from 13 countries, the analysis spans 2006 to 2022 and provides average and distributional results. The findings reveal a motherhood penalty in 10 countries, with the highest levels observed in Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Austria. For these countries, quantile regressions show a decreasing motherhood penalty along the earnings distribution. The empirical analysis further sheds light on how work–family policies, culture, minimum wages, and wage‐setting institutions mediate the role of motherhood on women's earnings. The results indicate that while work–family policies promote female employment, they do not significantly mitigate the motherhood penalty. In contrast, higher minimum wages and more coordinated and centralized wage bargaining are more effective in reducing the motherhood penalty, particularly in the lower segment of the earnings distribution. More traditional gender roles and cultural values emphasizing masculinity, individualism, and power distance are associated with a lower motherhood penalty.