Women who postpone motherhood until their late thirties may be playing chicken with their fertility, but there’s strong evidence that the gamble will pay off in greater paycheck power. Amalia R. Miller, an associate professor of economics at the University of Virginia, looked at the impact of delaying a first birth through one’s twenties and early thirties. Each year of delay meant women netted earnings gains of 9 percent. Managers and college graduates get the biggest boost for waiting. Given that women typically see wage growth flatten when they become mothers, delaying first birth may be a way for women to get closer to wage parity with men, Miller suggests.

Amalia R. Miller, “The Effects of Motherhood Timing on Career Path,” Journal of Population Economics, 2011

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