Dissertation: Childbearing has a significantly larger negative effect on earnings for women than men

In his doctoral dissertation, M.Sc. (Econ.) Antti Sieppi from Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics (JSBE) investigated various questions related to labor markets. According to one of the studies, childbearing has virtually no effect on earnings of men while having a significant and long-lasting negative effect on earnings, employment and hourly earnings of women. Another study in the dissertation shows that occupations that require social skills have increased their share in the labor markets.

The importance of social and mathematical skills has increased in the labor market

The first chapter of the dissertation uses the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey data to examine the task content of European labor markets. The task content is in turn used to explain structural changes in European labor markets.

“Even though European labor markets vary, as a whole the structural changes in them seem to have developed similarly to the United States,” says Antti Sieppi. “The share of occupations requiring social skills has increased, as well as the shares of occupations requiring high or low amounts of mathematical skills. A common explanation for this is that automation is replacing primarily occupations consisting of routine tasks.”

The contents of university degrees are connected to becoming an entrepreneur

One background variable considered to explain entrepreneurship has been having a diverse skillset. The second chapter examines the connection between the contents of university degrees and entrepreneurship after graduation.

“Those who graduated from the Business School became entrepreneurs more often if the graduate had completed more secondary subject courses. However, the study shows that these results are explained by measurement. In reality, both fewer courses in the primary subject as well as taking courses from fewer secondary subjects decrease the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur,” explains Sieppi.

The management practices in Finnish vocational schools are good

The third chapter examines management practices in Finnish vocational schools.

“Even though caution must be taken when comparing the results across countries and industries, it seems like the management practices are at an internationally good level in Finnish vocational schools. However, Finnish labor institutions explain the relatively low score in management practices related to human resource management,” says Sieppi.

Childbearing has a significant effect on the gender pay gap

The last chapter of the dissertation uses Finnish register data to research the effects of childbearing.

“Based on the results, childbirth has almost no effect on men, while having a significant and long-lasting negative effect on earnings, employment and hourly wages of women,” says Sieppi.

“Both Norwegian and Danish research has shown the earnings of the spouse giving birth in a lesbian couple encounters a much smaller drop in earnings than in a heterosexual couple. This leads to the conclusion that rather than biological reasons, cultural norms and attitudes largely explain this so-called child penalty.”

M.Sc. (Econ.) Antti Sieppi will defend his doctoral dissertation in Economics “Essays on Skills and Labor Markets” on Friday 6 June 2025 at 12 noon in the lecture hall C2 at the main building of the university. The opponent is docent, chief researcher, Kari Hämäläinen (University of Jyväskylä, VATT) and the custos professor Jaakko Pehkonen (University of Jyväskylä). The event is held in Finnish.

Take a look at Antti Sieppi's dissertation.

More information:
Antti Sieppi
antti.sieppi@kapsi.fi