Abstract: The gender gap in labor market is an important issue in gender inequality. It will also enlarge gender differences in other fields. Among them, motherhood penalty refers to the negative impacts of the birth event on women career development, which could explain a considerable part of the gender gap within labor market. Although extensive studies have been accomplished, a comprehensive landscape of this domain has not yet been built. In this survey, the related progresses, including the quantification and comparison of motherhood penalty in different times and regions are presented and the main factors affecting the strength of motherhood penalty from the individual, family and political perspectives are discussed, where the emphasis is put on Chinese situations. Concentrating on the contradiction between labor and labor, this survey summarizes the known explanations into three different yet related theories: family restriction theory, human capital theory and employer discrimination theory. From the supply and demand sides of the labor market, we suggest two ways, namely empowering women and creating opportunities, to help women balance their family and working duties. Lastly, we propose political recommendations and outline a number of open issues for future researches.