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The second chapter, which is work performed jointly with Tatiana Baron and Pengpeng Xiao, studies the drivers of the differential wage growth between men and women. We document the widening gender wage gap and the gender differences in the transition rates into and out of employment and human capital dynamics over the life cycle in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 1979 (NLSY79). We then develop an equilibrium search model to assess the extent to which labor market frictions, human capital accumulation, and motherhood contribute to the differential wage growth between men and women. In our framework, men and women have exogenously different transition probabilities and diverging human capital processes. Furthermore, women's careers can be impacted by maternity leave coverage policies. Firms respond to these gender differences when posting wages in market equilibrium. Results are in progress.