A new study that evaluates the motherhood penalty, or the average wages women lose over their career after they become mothers, reveals that low-income lose again and women who enjoy family friendly benefits aren’t usually mothers. Via today’s New York Times Economix blog:

In a startling new look at the “motherhood penalty,” however, two sociologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Michelle J. Budig and Melissa J. Hodges, show that mothers with lower earnings suffer the biggest percentage loss in hourly wages…Women with lower earnings are more likely to cycle in and out of jobs, forced to quit if child-care arrangements fall through or they experience a family health crisis. ...