Max-Emil Mohn King

Fiva, Jon H. & King, Max-Emil Mohn (2023)

Child Penalties in Politics

Economic Journal Doi: 10.1093/ej/uead084

Women tend to experience a substantial decline in their labour income after their first child is born, while men do not. Do such ‘child penalties’ also exist in the political arena? Using comprehensive administrative data from Norway, we find that women are less likely than men to secure elected office after their first child is born. The effects manifest already from the nomination stage, where mothers receive less favourable rankings on party lists relative to comparable fathers. This paper broadens our understanding of a fundamental social issue in political representation and demonstrates how motherhood affects even positively selected women.

King, Max-Emil Mohn & Fiva, Jon H. (2022)

Vi har undersøkt om barn er en karrierebrems i politikken. Vi finner betydelige kjønnsforskjeller.

Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.) [Kronikk]

Cox, Gary W.; Fiva, Jon H. & King, Max-Emil Mohn (2023)

Bound by Borders: Voter Mobilization through Social Networks

[Report]. Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research.

Fiva, Jon H. & King, Max-Emil Mohn (2022)

Child Penalties in Politics

[Report]. Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research.

Women tend to experience substantial declines in their labor income after their first child is born, while men do not. Do such “child penalties” also exist in the political arena? Using extensive administrative data from Norway and an event-study methodology, we find that women drop out of local politics to a larger extent than men after their first child is born. Parenthood also seems to have a differential long-term effect on women and men's political careers, which may explain why women, especially women with children, are underrepresented at higher levels of the political hierarchy.