Professor Alan Barrett:

We are straying into philosophy here. If I choose to take a career break, I personally believe it is reasonable that I am not going to be paid during the relevant period. Taking a standard depreciation model if one is not using one’s skills and the world of work develops, one’s skills can deteriorate. If I go back into the labour market after a certain period, if my productivity is lower than where it otherwise would have been and if I suffer a pay penalty as a result of my time out, then that is my choice. I am not sure whether we have to pay people to adjust for the fact they took time off. That is getting philosophical, however. We can come back to it.