Unequal division of labor within families is often mentioned as one of the main factors behind the gender wage gap. However, the research that explicitly focuses on the mechanisms through which the family type affects womens wages is relatively small. The purpose of this paper is to describe the main findings of the existing studies of the so-called family gap in pay. It turns out that most of the papers in this particular line of research have focused on the effects of children on womens investments in human capital, such as work experience. The results show that even though mothers lower level of work experience explains part of the family gap in pay, a considerable gap in pay remains after actual work experience and many other productivity-related worker characteristics have been controlled for. It thus seems that the role of children in womens career and wage development is much more complex than what could be expected on the ground of human capital theory only.
