Paid family leave and children health outcomes in OECD countries

During the past four decades, most OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries have adopted or expanded paid family leave, which offers leave to workers following the birth or adoption of a child as well as care for ill family members. While the effects of paid maternity leave on child health have been the subject of a large body of research, little is known about fathers’ leave-taking and the effects of paid paternity leave. This is a limitation, since most of the recent expansion in paid family leave in OECD countries has been to expand leave benefits to fathers. Mothers’ and fathers’ leave-taking may improve child health by decreasing postpartum depression among mothers, improving maternal mental health, increasing the time spent with a child, and increasing the likelihood of child medical checkup. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of paid family leave on the wellbeing of children, extending what we know about the effects of maternity leave and establishing new evidence on paternity leave. The paper examines the effects of paid family leave expansions on country-level neonatal mortality rates, infant mortality rates, under-five mortality rates, and the measles immunization rates in 35 OECD countries, during the time period of 1990 to 2016. Using an event study design, an approximately 1.9–5.2 percent decrease in the infant, neonatal, and under-five mortality rates has been found following the adoption of paid maternity leave. However, the beneficial impact is not as visible for extension of paid leave to fathers. The implications and potential reasons behind the larger protective effects of maternity leave over paternity leave on child health outcomes are discussed.