Men with children earn significantly more than those without, study finds

NOT having a family may seem like the easiest path to a fruitful career, but dads actually make more than men without kids, a new study has found.

Why it pays for men to have kids

NOT having a family may seem like the easiest path to a fruitful career, but dads actually make more than men without kids, a new study has found.

According to CNN, researchers from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York discovered that dads made 40 per cent more than childless men in 2010.

One might guess the results could be chalked up to fathers being older and more accomplished, but age did not prove to be a factor.

A man is expected to be earning the highest salary of his life between the ages of 35 and 49.

Fathers within this age group had an average income of $A62,315, compared to $A41,162 for men without kids.

The rest of the findings weren’t as surprising. Over 90 per cent of dads are working full-time and are more likely to have higher-paying positions.

Nearly 80 per cent of childless men are working full-time but are more likely to have jobs in sales, service and entry-level office positions.

The results were largely the same for the opposite sex, but to a lesser extent. Mothers are still making just slightly more than women without kids and considerably less than fathers.

Mothers took home a median income of $28,585 in 2010, compared to $23,056 for childless women.

Social psychologist and study author Justine Calcagno said, “Parenthood is giving advantages to men but not to women.”

She concluded that, despite the undeniable results, many are still unaware that being a father usually comes with a significant increase in hard-earned cash.

This article originally appeared on Elite Daily and was republished with permission.