The Pay Check

For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about how having kids makes it hard for women to work for pay. But there’s a flip side to that: Because it’s so hard for women to work for pay when they have kids, more and more just aren’t having them. This is a problem all over the developed world, and since population growth is a big part of economic growth, these countries are desperately trying to boost fertility rates. China in particular is in deep trouble: after almost 40 years of the One-Child Policy, the population could start shrinking within a few years. We head to China to see how the country is attempting to get women to have kids — and why it’s not working.

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These days about one in three bites of food you eat wouldn’t be possible without commercial bee pollination. And the economic value of insect pollination worldwide is estimated to be about $217 billion. But as important as bees have become for farming, there’s also increasing signs that bees are in trouble. In the decade-plus since the first cases of Colony Collapse Disorder were reported, bees are still dying in record numbers, and important questions remain unanswered. On this new miniseries, host Adam Allington and environment reporters David Schultz and Tiffany Stecker travel to all corners of the honeybee ecosystem from Washington, D.C., to the California almond fields, and orchards of the upper Midwest to find answers to these questions.

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When we talk about the gender pay gap, we’re talking about a ratio: how much women make compared to men. We’ve spent the last three weeks talking about what happens to women’s earnings when they become moms. This week, we look at the other side of the ratio: Men—or more generally, secondary caregivers. When men become dads, their earnings get a boost, a phenomenon known as the fatherhood bonus. But if they try to do more at home than established gender norms say they should, they too are penalized. Susan Berfield tells the story of Kevin Knussman, a police officer whose career suffered when he tried to take time off to care for his wife and new baby. Then we talk to Alexis Ohanian, aka Mr. Serena Williams, about how we can actually get men to be more involved dads.

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We know working moms make less than men partly because they work fewer hours, and one of the main reasons for that is: childcare. Because, well: someone has to take care of the kids. In this episode, we dig into the economics of childcare, which are bad. Women either get pushed out of the workforce altogether, or have to take lower paying jobs to meet childcare needs. There are places, like Singapore, where childcare is cheap and plentiful, allowing women to stay in the workforce. It’s great for working women, but what about the women taking care of the kids? Tomoko Yamazaki reports from our Singapore bureau on the life of Romina Novato, a domestic worker in Singapore. 

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On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Mike Regan and Sarah Ponczek speak with expert guests each week about the main themes influencing global markets. They explore everything from stocks to bonds to currencies and commodities, and how each asset class affects trading in the others. Whether you’re a financial professional or just a curious retirement saver, What Goes Up keeps you apprised of the latest buzz on Wall Street and what the wildest movements in markets will mean for your investments. 

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In this episode, we begin at the beginning: with pregnancy. Women with kids get sidelined at work even before they arrive. From the moment a woman gets pregnant—or reaches the age when she might get pregnant—she's seen as a financial liability. Companies would rather not have to deal with pregnant women at all—and sometimes, they don't. Claire Suddath delves into the history of laws against pregnancy discrimination and explains how they can still fail to protect women. And Jordyn Holman tells the story of Brittany Noble Jones, a TV anchor who says she was pushed out of a job because of her pregnancy.

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In the season premier of The Pay Check, we take a close look at the single biggest reason for the gender pay gap: Motherhood. Women start out their careers earning about as much as men, but the pay gap widens to a chasm after a woman has her first child. Host Rebecca Greenfield talks to Bloomberg economics reporter Jeanna Smialek about what having a kid does to pay and why certain countries have bigger wage gaps for moms than others. We also hear from Senator Tammy Duckworth about what it’s really like to “have it all.”

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The Pay Check is back for a second season! For the next six weeks, we’re going to dig into the number one reason women still make less money than men: Motherhood. Women start their careers earning just about the same as men do, but once they have their first kid, that pay gap grows to a chasm. This season, we’ll show you how this “motherhood penalty” plays out for real women, in real life and how it affects the global economy.

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The Pay Check is collecting stories for our upcoming season, and we want to hear from you! Did having a kid change your career trajectory or the way you work? If you have anything you want to share, call and leave us a voicemail at (212) 617-0166. Stay tuned for more very soon!

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On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Francesca Levy and Rebecca Greenfield navigate the productivity industry by way of their own experiences. In each episode, one of the two becomes a human guinea pig as she tries to solve a specific work-related problem. Using the advice of so-called productivity experts, the duo tackles obstacles like ineffective to-do lists, overflowing inboxes and unruly meetings. Follow along with their attempts, insights and missteps, and maybe find a solution that will work for you.

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