The XX Factor: What women really think.

Breast-Feed, Earn Less...But Maybe By Choice

Hanna, as someone who's normally so attuned to the "correlation is not causation" argument, I'm surprised by your post yesterday applauding a new study about the effect of breast-feeding on a mother's work life. As you summarized, the study found that the mothers who breast-fed for more than six months were earning more than formula feeders when they first gave birth, but that 10 years later, they earned significantly less. You conclude that this means "that we should stop talking about breast-feeding as if it only affects an infant's health, and not the woman's life or position in her family, and her workplace."

But as you would likely be quick to point out if this study had the opposite findings, this doesn't quite mean that breast-feeding affects a woman's position in her family and the workplace. It just means that there's a connection between the two.

There's room here for another interpretation. Maybe you're right that breast-feeding requires a woman to sacrifice income and career status. Another option: Women who are attracted to breast-feeding, particularly prolonged breast-feeding, are the same women who are likely to put childrearing above their careers, which will lead them to do things like take longer maternity leaves, work shorter hours, or even quit work altogether. Not because of breast-feeding for more than six months, but in addition to it.

Breast-feed More, Earn Less

Finally, the study I've been waiting for: "Is Breastfeeding Really Free: The Economic Consequences of Breastfeeding for Mothers." Two researchers looked into the effects of breast-feeding on a mother's work life. "Because of the massive push in the public health community to get mothers to breastfeed, understanding the economic consequences of breast-feeding on women's lives is essential," write Phyllis L. F. Rippeyoung from Acadia University and Mary Noonan from the University of Iowa. This should be an obvious question, but none of the breast-feeding literature addresses it. In most studies, the question is relegated to a footnote, in which authors assert that breast-fed babies are sick less so mothers have to stay home from work less.

The researchers surveyed 2,484 women each year for 10 years before and after childbearing. The mothers who chose to breast-feed initially earned more income than the formula feeders, worked more hours, were more likely to be married and part of the professional class.

One year later the picture starts to change dramatically. The breast-feeders divide into short duration (fewer than six months) and long duration (longer than six months). The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends six months of exclusive breast-feeding, and then continuing for at least a year while introducing solids. According to the study:

Although, at two years before birth, both breastfeeding groups earned statistically significantly higher incomes than the formula feeders, by year 10 this advantage has disappeared—formula feeders and short-duration breastfeeders do not have significantly different incomes, and long-duration breastfeeders earn significantly less than formula feeders.