Exploring Gender, Motherhood, and Fatherhood Wage Gaps in Kosovo

Abstract

This paper examines gender, motherhood, and fatherhood wage gaps among working-age individuals in Kosovo using pooled SILC data for 2018–2022. Kosovo provides an important case study because low employment and large gender gaps in labour-market participation mean that wage comparisons capture a particularly selected group of employed women. The study applies the personal cross-sectional weight consistently across all five years and uses weighted Oaxaca–Blinder decompositions of log gross hourly wages to separate observed differences into endowments, coefficients, and interaction components. Baseline estimates show that women earn 4.4% less than men, although the difference is statistically insignificant. The motherhood difference is positive at 4.0% but statistically insignificant, whereas fathers earn 9.8% more than non-fathers and the difference is statistically significant. In the gender decomposition, women’s observed characteristics narrow the gap, while the negative and statistically significant coefficients component widens it. This unexplained component may also capture omitted or unobserved differences and is not direct evidence of discrimination. Including the number of children does not make the overall gender wage gap statistically significant, and the 5.5% gap among employed parents is also statistically insignificant. The findings show that a small average gender wage gap can conceal larger offsetting components. They also suggest that motherhood-related disadvantage may operate mainly through access to employment and career continuity, while fatherhood remains associated with a significant wage premium of around 9–10% across specifications.