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| Michelle Budig, PhD, professor of sociology at UMass Amherst |
To highlight some of the challenges and discrepancies working mothers encounter, Michelle Budig, PhD, professor of sociology at UMass Amherst, will address the parenthood pay gap during her keynote address at a special Women’s History Month event on March 3.
Dr. Budig’s talk The Motherhood Penalty vs. the Fatherhood Bonus will discuss an income bias she says is most extreme for parents who can least afford it, according to a paper she authored that was published in February by Third Way, a research group that aims to advance moderate policy ideas.
“Families with lower resources are bearing more of the economic costs of raising kids,” said Budig, who has studied the parenthood pay gap for 15 years. High-income men get the biggest pay bump for having children, and low-income women pay the biggest price, she added.
Budig’s research has appeared in the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Social Problems, Gender & Society, and numerous other professional journals. She is currently working on a National Science Foundation-funded project that examines the pathways into self-employment for women and men in a large set of westernized countries.
Budig is a past recipient of the World Bank/Luxembourg Income Study Gender Research Award, a two-time recipient of the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Research Excellence in Families and Work, and a recipient of the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on the Family.
The event, sponsored by the Professional Women’s Committee, Women’s Faculty Committee, Women’s Leadership Work Group and the Diversity and Inclusion Office, is scheduled for March 3 from noon until 1 p.m. in the Faculty Conference Room (S1-342) in the Medical School building.
To register for the event online, visit the event webpage on the UMMS intranet or contact Fernanda Gama at fernanda.gama@umassmed.edu.
