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Abstract: Perceptions that women have an absolute advantage in child-rearing can pressure mothers out of work. Guided by a simple model, we use a survey experiment where we equalize earnings potential across gender and show that women are perceived to hold an absolute advantage in child-rearing and that this can be explained by expectations that mothers will spend more time on skill investments with their children than fathers. Finally, we find that when mothers work full-time, children's actual performance is generally underestimated, but providing information about their outcomes, leads to more accurate beliefs and reduced expectations of harm to the child.