TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Cygan-Rehm, Kamila
AU  - Westphal, Matthias
        TI  - School Starting Age and the Gender Pay Gap over the Life Cycle
        PY  - 2026/Mar/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18503
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18503
        AB  - This paper replicates and extends the evidence on the lifetime effects of school starting age on earnings by Fredriksson and Öckert (2014) for Sweden. Using German data for individuals born between 1945 and 1965, we examine a more rigid system of ability tracking in secondary education, a potential driver of long-term effects. We confirm negligible effects of later school entry for men and positive effects for women. These gender differences arise despite similar effects on educational attainment. By unfolding
the gender gaps over the lifecycle, assessing fertility decisions, and maternal employment around the first birth, we show that childbirth postponement and increased labor market attachment after the first birth seem to be plausible mechanisms.
        KW  - school starting age
KW  - lifetime effects
KW  - education
KW  - gender gaps
        ER  -