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Negative effects of long parental leave on maternal health: Evidence from a substantial policy change in Austria

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  • Chuard, Caroline

Abstract

I study the effect of parental leave duration on maternal health in the short- to medium-run leveraging variation in parental leave duration induced by an Austrian policy reform in the year 2000. Using rich administrative data and a regression discontinuity framework, I find that long parental leave of 2.5 years instead of 1.5 years deteriorates maternal health. Worse mental health mainly drives this effect. Alternative channels such as differential fertility, long-term employment effects, a change in disposable income or alternative mode of childcare are unlikely to be of main importance. There is substantial heterogeneity with longer leave spells being less harmful for mothers with unhealthy babies proxied by low birth weight.

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  • Chuard, Caroline, 2023. "Negative effects of long parental leave on maternal health: Evidence from a substantial policy change in Austria," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:88:y:2023:i:c:s0167629623000036
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102726
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    Cited by:

    1. Marina Krauß & Niklas Rott, 2024. "Early Childcare Expansion and Maternal Health," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1208, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Renner, Anna-Theresa & Shaikh, Mujaheed & Spitzer, Sonja, 2023. "The long-term impact of maternal leave duration on smoking behavior," MPRA Paper 118675, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Alexander Ahammer & Ulrich Glogowsky & Martin Halla & Timo Hener, 2023. "The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark," CESifo Working Paper Series 10676, CESifo.
    4. Oparina, Ekaterina & Krekel, Christian & Srisuma, Sorawoot, 2024. "Talking Therapy: Impacts of a Nationwide Mental Health Service in England," IZA Discussion Papers 16839, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Nora Bearth, 2024. "Beyond Baby Blues: The Child Penalty in Mental Health in Switzerland," Papers 2410.20861, arXiv.org.
    6. Kristin F. Butcher & Deniz Çivril & Sari Pekkala Kerr, 2024. "The Impact of State Paid Leave Laws on Firms and Establishments: Evidence from the First Three States," Working Paper Series WP 2024-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parental leave; Maternal health; Mental health; Regression discontinuity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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