From employment exit to occupational reallocation: Child penalties in Vietnam

While Vietnam has experienced sustained economic growth accompanied by high female labour force participation in the past decades, gender disparities in labour market outcomes endure. These gaps widen sharply following the transition into parenthood, when care responsibilities and career trajectories diverge between women and men.

The first part of this seminar examines the child penalties in Vietnam, documenting how childbirth leads to significant, long-term reductions in women’s employment and earnings. This analysis highlights that these penalties surface immediately and persist for up to a decade, primarily through reduced labour supply and occupational shifts (https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4932.70059).

Building on these findings, the second part explores childcare constraints in Vietnam and three Southeast Asian nations using the Social Norms, Attitudes, and Practices (SNAP) survey data. This ongoing research investigates how the gendered division of domestic care, compounded by issues of childcare affordability, availability, and reliability, affect mothers' ability to engage in paid work.

Together, both child penalties and childcare constraints are mutually reinforcing mechanisms underpinning of gender inequality, underscoring the need for policy responses to support women sustained economic empowerment.