> But neither of these things have a smoking gun to them I don't have much proof, but it is almost certainly caused by the lost experience/networking/politicki

> But neither of these things have a smoking gun to them I don't have much proof, but it is almost certainly caused by the lost experience/networking/politicking of maternity leave. There are some very rough studies and pieces like this [1]. To me, it is obvious that if an athlete took a season off in their 20's that they would experience a gap and ceiling in their lifetime earnings compared to those that didn't. Having a baby in your 30's can be this transformational as many future CEOs would be starting their upper management careers around this time. If this is indeed the case, there is no clear solution as forcing paternity leave just doubly hurts the family but would equalize the aggregate statistic. [1] - https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2019/05/14/how-paid-paternity-leave-can-help-close-the-gender-pay-gap/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2019/05/14/how-paid-...