National audience. Many women suspend or reduce their professional activity on the occasion of the birth of a child. The purpose of this article is to analyse the financial consequences of these choices on the standard of living of the family, at the time of birth, but also subsequently, until retirement. Based on typical cases, a full fictitious life cycle analysis is carried out. It shows, first, that, apart from any effect on the career, periods of interruptions or reductions in activity are indeed compensated by the social protection system, in particular by the supplement to the free choice of activity, irrespective of the income of the household. On the other hand, in frequent cases where they are followed by unemployment, part-time work or a relative fall in wages, the impact on income levels is more significant.