How does parenthood affect one's wages? While entering the workforce and parenthood are both major life events, they have an effect on each other that are sometimes surprising. Why is this interplay between wages and parenthood important anyway? Can we change it? By taking both and economic and anthropological approach to the family wage gap, new insights into what is occurring in the United States workforce, and also why these two life stages affect each other. Examining a cross section of the United States from 1979 to 2000, and comparing them to a cross section of the United States from 1968 to 1997, one can see how society has changed regarding the child rearing decisions of the population. One can also examine how changes in education affect the economic realities of the United States.