Michelle Budig 
Vice Provost for Faculty Development / Professor of Sociology | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
Michelle Budig's research includes labor market inequalities, wage penalties for caregiving, work-family policy, and nonstandard employment.
Expertise (5)
Motherhood Penalty
Quantitative Methods
Self-Employment
Work and Family Policy
Gender and Family Status Inequality in Labor Markets
Biography
Michelle J. Budig's research interests include labor market inequalities, wage penalties for paid and unpaid caregiving, work-family policy, and nonstandard employment.
Her research has appeared in the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Social Problems, Journal of Marriage and the Family, and numerous other professional journals.
She is a past recipient of the Reuben Hill Award from the National Council on Family Relations, the World Bank/ Luxembourg Income Study Gender Research Award, and a two-time recipient of the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Research Excellence in Families and Work. She has provided expert testimony on the gender pay gap and the motherhood wage penalty to the US Congressional Joint Economic Commission and the Massachusetts State Legislature.
Video
Publications:
Documents:
Videos:
Audio/Podcasts:
Education (3)
University of Arizona: M.A,, Sociology
University of Arizona: Ph.D., Sociology
Augsburg College: B.A., Sociology and English
Links (1)
Media Coverage (2)
Women's Careers Suffer a ‘Motherhood Penalty’—Even if They Don’t Have Kids
Vice online
2019-03-18
Women’s careers can suffer from a “mommy penalty” even if they do not plan to have children or have yet to have children, says Michelle Budig. Employers sometimes choose not to hire or promote young women because they fear they will leave for a period of time to have children, says Budig. She also says that men are usually rewarded for having children with a career boost and pay raise.
Pregnancy Discrimination Is Rampant Inside America’s Biggest Companies
The New York Times print
2019-02-08
Research by Michelle J. Budig has found that, on average, men earn 6 percent more when they have and live with a child, while women earn 4 percent less for every child they have.
Publications (1)
The Fatherhood Bonus and The Motherhood Penalty: Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Pay
Third WayMichelle J. Budig
2014-09-03
In a new and provocative paper, Michelle Budig looks at fathers and mothers. For most men the fact of fatherhood results in a wage bonus; for most women motherhood results in a wage penalty. “While the gender pay gap has been decreasing, the pay gap related to parenthood is increasing,” says Budig.
Social Media