I’ve been debating with rpl about the decision to have children and the opportunity it costs high-IQ people. It occured to me that I have no idea if having children actually reduces someone’s future earnings and career prospects. You *can* make a case in the opposite direction — that having children gives greater work motivation, forces better time management and has a positive social impact leading to better career prospects. Let’s not forget that one of the reasons the presumptive Democratic nominee had a child was to advance her husband’s political career.

I’m just curious if anyone knows of longitudinal study that has been done on this subject. Does having chiildren reduce your future earnings? Google is coy, not giving me the information I need.

I know that having children at a young age has a massive negative impact on future earning, especially if it’s out of wedlock. But I suspect the impact of people having children in their late 20’s or in their 30’s is either minimal or positive.