Erik Plug elected new member of KNAW

The new members, selected by expert juries in each scientific and scholarly field, don't just excel in their research, they also attach great importance to playing a role in society as scientists. They will be officially installed on 28 September 2026.

Mothers tend to earn less than women without children. Why is that? Is it because having children is detrimental to women’s careers, or is it because women who want children are simply less ambitious? 

Plug, professor of Intergenerational and family economics at the University of Amsterdam, is adept at finding original ways to answer these kinds of questions, which are tricky but nevertheless highly relevant both to society and the economy.

For example, to study the 'motherhood penalty' question, Plug examined Danish data on IVF treatments, which are successful for some women but not for others. In the long run, the women who did have children after IVF ended up earning less on average than those whose treatment was unsuccessful. It would appear that having children is especially detrimental to a woman's career and earnings, even in a country with excellent childcare facilities such as Denmark.

Plug used similar methods to explore other issues, for example why gay people earn less, or why highly educated parents often have highly educated children. His creative approach has proven to be exceptionally successful in tackling precisely these kinds of questions, which hinge on the distinction between nature and nurture.