A couple perspective is critical for understanding how families strategize about work and earnings after childbirth, yet the bulk of the literature on the economic costs of parenthood focuses on individuals. We address this gap, examining short-term changes over four decades in mothers’ employment following the critical transition to parenthood. Our analysis assesses the extent to which job exits among new mothers are shaped by her own and partners’ earnings, and whether having a high-earning spouse moderates her earnings effects. It relies on a sample of couples from the Current Population Survey (CPS) panels from 1982-2020, which allows us to observe couples’ work and earnings before and after the transition to first birth. Consistent with expectations from economic theory, mothers’ work attachment is stronger as her own earnings increase and weaker as her partners’ earnings increase. We find little evidence that partners’ earnings moderate own earnings associations and, surprisingly, no evidence of change over time in these processes.