Parenthood is often assumed to make us better. A boss who becomes a father, the thinking goes, is more understanding, more flexible, more supportive of diversity and all that.
But according to study in the current issue of Administrative Science Quarterly doing the rounds of the business press, when your boss gets his own bundle of joy, he might start paying himself more, and you less.
Danish researchers came to this conclusion after tracking the salaries of every company in Denmark with 10 or more employees and a male boss. They found that when a boss had a daughter, his pay went up by 3.5%, all other things being equal. If he had a son, a 6.4% pay rise was on the cards.
The researchers figured this was due to the new fathers feeling a greater responsibility to provide for their families. But that extra pay has to come from somewhere, and usually, it came from the paypackets of their underlings.
Employees working for a new father were paid up to 1% less than those who worked for a childless boss.
Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
