On Penalties and Premiums: The Impact of Childbirth on the Well-Being and Work of Parents

Kourtney Koebel; Daisy Pollenne

doi:10.2139/ssrn.6535518

journal article Jan 01, 2026

On Penalties and Premiums: The Impact of Childbirth on the Well-Being and Work of Parents

Kourtney Koebel Daisy Pollenne

SSRN Electronic Journal · Elsevier BV

View at Publisher Save 10.2139/ssrn.6535518

Abstract

Mitigating gender inequalities in the workplace that arise from parenthood is a key concern of organizations. Research on these inequalities has focused mainly on career and economic and inequalities, yet their effects on well-being, a key dimension of organizational performance, remain largely unexplored. To examine how changes in parents' work outcomes following childbirth affect wellbeing, we use the Understanding Society dataset to track their daily emotions and life satisfaction. We document striking gender differences in how well-being evolves after childbirth. While fathers report persistently lower well-being, the well-being of mothers depends on post-birth career trajectories: those who earn more or return to work full-time experience increased unhappiness, whereas those who reduce their hours or experience wage penalties do not. After showing that these changes reflect parents' increasing dissatisfaction with their work, we discuss how the inflexible nature of many organizations likely contributes to fathers' difficulty balancing family responsibilities with workplace demands and to the trade-off mothers face between career progression and wellbeing. The results of our paper suggest that mitigating gender inequality requires a broader perspective than the conventional focus on economic and career outcomes. Addressing persistent well-being trade-offs faced by working parents may therefore be critical for organizations seeking to retain talent, improve productivity, and maintain long-term performance.

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Published: Jan 01, 2026

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Kourtney Koebel, Daisy Pollenne (2026). On Penalties and Premiums: The Impact of Childbirth on the Well-Being and Work of Parents. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6535518

On Penalties and Premiums: The Impact of Childbirth on the Well-Being and Work of Parents

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