Elizabeth Ty Wilde, an assistant professor at Columbia University’s department of health policy and management, and two co-authors analyzed the earnings trajectories of women who took the Armed Forces Qualifications Test, an aptitude test for entering military service. They found that women who scored in the top third of test takers experience a net 8 percent drop in compensation that persists at least five years after birth. Over a lifetime, however, low-scoring women give up 10 to 14 percent of her earnings, while a high scoring women saw her potential more sharply curtailed: her earnings were reduced by 21 to 33 percent. Having children “early” (pre-age 30) particularly hurt women’s income over her lifetime, the study found.

Elizabeth Ty Wilde, Lily Batchelder and David T. Ellwood. The Mommy Track Divides: The Impact of Childbearing on Wages of Women of Differing Skill Levels National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper, December 2010  http://www.nber.org/papers/w16582

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