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Unanticipated Effects Of California'S Paid Family Leave Program

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  • Tirthatanmoy Das
  • Solomon W. Polachek

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="coep12102-abs-0001"> We examine the effect of California paid family leave (CPFL) on young women's labor force participation and unemployment, relative to men and older women. CPFL enables workers to take at most 6 weeks of paid leave over a 12-month period in order to bond with new born or adopted children, or to care for sick family members or ailing parents. The policy benefits women, especially young women, as they are more prone to take such a leave. However, the effect of the policy on overall labor market outcomes is less clear. We apply difference-in-difference techniques to identify the effects of the CPFL legislation on young women's labor force participation and unemployment. We find that the labor force participation rate, the unemployment rate, and the duration of unemployment among young women rose in California compared to men (particularly young men) and older women in California, and to other young women, men, and older women in states that did not adopt PFL. The latter two findings regarding higher young women's unemployment and unemployment duration are unanticipated effects of the CPFL program. We utilize robustness checks as well as unique placebo tests to validate these results .( JEL H43, J13, J18, J48)

Suggested Citation

  • Tirthatanmoy Das & Solomon W. Polachek, 2015. "Unanticipated Effects Of California'S Paid Family Leave Program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(4), pages 619-635, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:33:y:2015:i:4:p:619-635
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy

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