IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v130y2015icp32-41.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The maternal health outcomes of paid maternity leave: A systematic review

Author

Listed:
  • Aitken, Zoe
  • Garrett, Cameryn C.
  • Hewitt, Belinda
  • Keogh, Louise
  • Hocking, Jane S.
  • Kavanagh, Anne M.

Abstract

Paid maternity leave has become a standard benefit in many countries throughout the world. Although maternal health has been central to the rationale for paid maternity leave, no review has specifically examined the effect of paid maternity leave on maternal health. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of studies that examine the association between paid maternity leave and maternal health. We conducted a comprehensive search of electronic databases (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts) and Google Scholar. We searched websites of relevant organisations, reference lists of key papers and journals, and citation indices for additional studies including those not in refereed journals. There were no language restrictions. Studies were included if they compared paid maternity leave versus no paid maternity leave, or different lengths of paid leave. Data were extracted and an assessment of bias was performed independently by authors. Seven studies were identified, with participants from Australia, Sweden, Norway, USA, Canada, and Lebanon. All studies used quantitative methodologies, including cohort, cross-sectional, and repeated cross-sectional designs. Outcomes included mental health and wellbeing, general health, physical wellbeing, and intimate partner violence. The four studies that examined leave at an individual level showed evidence of maternal health benefits, whereas the three studies conducting policy-level comparisons reported either no association or evidence of a negative association. The synthesis of the results suggested that paid maternity leave provided maternal health benefits, although this varied depending on the length of leave. This has important implications for public health and social policy. However, all studies were subject to confounding bias and many to reverse causation. Given the small number of studies and the methodological limitations of the evidence, longitudinal studies are needed to further clarify the effects of paid maternity leave on the health of mothers in paid employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Aitken, Zoe & Garrett, Cameryn C. & Hewitt, Belinda & Keogh, Louise & Hocking, Jane S. & Kavanagh, Anne M., 2015. "The maternal health outcomes of paid maternity leave: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 32-41.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:130:y:2015:i:c:p:32-41
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.02.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615000842
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.02.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burstrom, Bo & Whitehead, Margaret & Clayton, Stephen & Fritzell, Sara & Vannoni, Francesca & Costa, Giuseppe, 2010. "Health inequalities between lone and couple mothers and policy under different welfare regimes - The example of Italy, Sweden and Britain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 912-920, March.
    2. Doyal, Lesley, 2000. "Gender equity in health: debates and dilemmas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 931-939, September.
    3. Katharina Staehelin & Paola Bertea & Elisabeth Stutz, 2007. "Length of maternity leave and health of mother and child – a review," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 52(4), pages 202-209, August.
    4. Baker, Michael & Milligan, Kevin, 2008. "Maternal employment, breastfeeding, and health: Evidence from maternity leave mandates," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 871-887, July.
    5. Lahelma, Eero & Arber, Sara & Kivelä, Katariina & Roos, Eva, 2002. "Multiple roles and health among British and Finnish women: the influence of socioeconomic circumstances," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(5), pages 727-740, March.
    6. Productivity Commission, 2009. "Paid Parental Leave: Support for Parents with Newborn Children," Inquiry Reports, Productivity Commission, Government of Australia, number 47.
    7. Alessandro Liberati & Douglas G Altman & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Cynthia Mulrow & Peter C Gøtzsche & John P A Ioannidis & Mike Clarke & P J Devereaux & Jos Kleijnen & David Moher, 2009. "The PRISMA Statement for Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses of Studies That Evaluate Health Care Interventions: Explanation and Elaboration," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-28, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anam Bilgrami & Kompal Sinha & Henry Cutler, 2020. "The impact of introducing a national scheme for paid parental leave on maternal mental health outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1657-1681, December.
    2. Doran, Elizabeth L. & Bartel, Ann P. & Ruhm, Christopher J. & Waldfogel, Jane, 2020. "California's paid family leave law improves maternal psychological health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    3. Tingting Zhang & Chloe Rodrigue, 2023. "What If Moms Quiet Quit? The Role of Maternity Leave Policy in Working Mothers’ Quiet Quitting Behaviors," Merits, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Lebihan, Laetitia & Mao Takongmo, Charles Olivier, 2023. "The effect of paid parental leave on breastfeeding, parental health and behavior," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    5. Nicole Guertzgen & Karsten Hank, 2018. "Maternity Leave and Mothers’ Long-Term Sickness Absence: Evidence From West Germany," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 587-615, April.
    6. Persson, Petra & Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2019. "When Dad Can Stay Home: Fathers' Workplace Flexibility and Maternal Health," IZA Discussion Papers 12386, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Ahmed, Salma & Fielding, David, 2019. "Changes in maternity leave coverage: Implications for fertility, labour force participation and child mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    8. Deborah Karasek & Sarah Raifman & William H. Dow & Rita Hamad & Julia M. Goodman, 2022. "Evaluating the Effect of San Francisco’s Paid Parental Leave Ordinance on Birth Outcomes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, September.
    9. 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).
    10. Lee, Bethany C. & Modrek, Sepideh & White, Justin S. & Batra, Akansha & Collin, Daniel F. & Hamad, Rita, 2020. "The effect of California's paid family leave policy on parent health: A quasi-experimental study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    11. Petra Rattay & Elena von der Lippe, 2020. "Association between Living with Children and the Health and Health Behavior of Women and Men. Are There Differences by Age? Results of the “German Health Update” (GEDA) Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-19, May.
    12. Hewitt, Belinda & Strazdins, Lyndall & Martin, Bill, 2017. "The benefits of paid maternity leave for mothers' post-partum health and wellbeing: Evidence from an Australian evaluation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 97-105.
    13. Camila Perera & Shivit Bakrania & Alessandra Ipince & Zahrah Nesbitt‐Ahmed & Oluwaseun Obasola & Dominic Richardson & Jorinde Van de Scheur & Ruichuan Yu, 2022. "Impact of social protection on gender equality in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review of reviews," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(2), June.
    14. Persson, Petra & Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2019. "When Dad Can Stay Home: Fathers’ Workplace Flexibility and Maternal Health," CEPR Discussion Papers 13780, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Knoester, Chris & Li, Qi & Petts, Richard, 2021. "Attitudes about Paid Parental Leave: Cross-national comparisons and the significance of gendered expectations, family strains, and extant leave offerings," SocArXiv pmby8, Center for Open Science.
    16. Cristina Giudici & Silvia Polettini & Alessandra Rose & Nicolas Brouard, 2019. "Which Aspects of Elderly Living Conditions are Important to Predict Mortality? The Complex Role of Family Ties at Home and in Institutions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 1255-1283, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara Oloomi, 2016. "Impact of Paid Family Leave of California on Delayed Childbearing and on Infant Health Outcomes," Departmental Working Papers 2016-08, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    2. Anam Bilgrami & Kompal Sinha & Henry Cutler, 2020. "The impact of introducing a national scheme for paid parental leave on maternal mental health outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1657-1681, December.
    3. Daku, Mark & Raub, Amy & Heymann, Jody, 2012. "Maternal leave policies and vaccination coverage: A global analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 120-124.
    4. Petra Rattay & Elena von der Lippe, 2020. "Association between Living with Children and the Health and Health Behavior of Women and Men. Are There Differences by Age? Results of the “German Health Update” (GEDA) Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-19, May.
    5. Guertzgen, Nicole & Hank, Karsten, 2014. "Maternity leave and mothers' long-term sickness absence: Evidence from Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-109, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Hajizadeh, Mohammad & Heymann, Jody & Strumpf, Erin & Harper, Sam & Nandi, Arijit, 2015. "Paid maternity leave and childhood vaccination uptake: Longitudinal evidence from 20 low-and-middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 104-117.
    7. 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).
    8. Nicole Guertzgen & Karsten Hank, 2018. "Maternity Leave and Mothers’ Long-Term Sickness Absence: Evidence From West Germany," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 587-615, April.
    9. Elizabeth T Cafiero-Fonseca & Andrew Stawasz & Sydney T Johnson & Reiko Sato & David E Bloom, 2017. "The full benefits of adult pneumococcal vaccination: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-23, October.
    10. Ludoviko Zirimenya & Fatima Mahmud-Ajeigbe & Ruth McQuillan & You Li, 2020. "A systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between urogenital schistosomiasis and HIV/AIDS infection," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-13, June.
    11. Trang Nguyen & Sara Holton & Thach Tran & Jane Fisher, 2019. "Informal mental health interventions for people with severe mental illness in low and lower middle-income countries: A systematic review of effectiveness," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(3), pages 194-206, May.
    12. Natalya Ivanova & Ekaterina Zolotova, 2023. "Landolt Indicator Values in Modern Research: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    13. Su Keng Tan & Wai Keung Leung & Alexander Tin Hong Tang & Roger A Zwahlen, 2017. "Effects of mandibular setback with or without maxillary advancement osteotomies on pharyngeal airways: An overview of systematic reviews," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-20, October.
    14. Vecchio, Riccardo & Caso, Gerarda & Cembalo, Luigi & Borrello, Massimiliano, 2020. "Is respondents’ inattention in online surveys a major issue for research?," Economia agro-alimentare / Food Economy, Italian Society of Agri-food Economics/Società Italiana di Economia Agro-Alimentare (SIEA), vol. 22(1), March.
    15. Alessandro Concari & Gerjo Kok & Pim Martens, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Review of Concepts and Factors Related to Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour in Relation to Waste Management Through an Interdisciplinary Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-50, May.
    16. Damiano Pizzol & Mike Trott & Igor Grabovac & Mario Antunes & Anna Claudia Colangelo & Simona Ippoliti & Cristian Petre Ilie & Anne Carrie & Nicola Veronese & Lee Smith, 2021. "Laparoscopy in Low-Income Countries: 10-Year Experience and Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-11, May.
    17. Yehuda Weizman & Oren Tirosh & Jeanie Beh & Franz Konstantin Fuss & Sonja Pedell, 2021. "Gait Assessment Using Wearable Sensor-Based Devices in People Living with Dementia: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Miki Kobayashi & Emiko Usui, 2017. "Breastfeeding practices and parental employment in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 579-596, June.
    19. Alessandro Margherita & Emanuele Banchi & Alfredo Biffi & Gianluca di Castri & Rocco Morelli, 2022. "Beyond Total Cost Management (TCM) to Systemic Value Management (SVM): Transformational Trends and a Research Manifesto for an Evolving Discipline," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, October.
    20. Fabio Magnacca & Riccardo Giannetti, 2024. "Management accounting and new product development: a systematic literature review and future research directions," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(2), pages 651-685, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:130:y:2015:i:c:p:32-41. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.