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Unintended consequences of maternity leave legislation: The case of Colombia

Author

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  • Uribe, Ana Maria Tribin
  • Vargas, Carmiña O.
  • Bustamante, Natalia Ramírez

Abstract

We estimate the impact on female labor outcomes of the extension in maternity leave period from 12 to 14 weeks, an amendment to the Colombian labor law in 2011. To identify this impact, we compare labor market outcomes of different groups of individuals with women of child-bearing age. First we compared two groups of women with different fertility rates (low elasticity of substitution), finding that, as result of the extension, women in the high-fertility age group experience an increase in inactivity, informality, and self-employment. When comparing high-fertility age women with men in the same age group (high elasticity of substitution), we find that the extension increases the probability of unemployment, informality and self-employment and decreases wages of women compared with men.

Suggested Citation

  • Uribe, Ana Maria Tribin & Vargas, Carmiña O. & Bustamante, Natalia Ramírez, 2019. "Unintended consequences of maternity leave legislation: The case of Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 218-232.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:122:y:2019:i:c:p:218-232
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.05.007
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    2. Machado, Cecilia & Neto, Valdemar & Szerman, Christiane, 2023. "Firm and Worker Responses to Extensions in Paid Maternity Leave," IZA Discussion Papers 16555, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Vu, Khoa & Glewwe, Paul, 2022. "Maternity benefits mandate and women’s choice of work in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Andrea Otero-Cortés & Ana María Tribín-Uribe & Tatiana Mojica-Urueña, 2022. "The Heterogeneous Labor Market Effects of the Venezuelan Exodus on Female Workers: Evidence from Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 20623, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    5. Ana Tribin & Karen García-Rojas & Paula Herrera-Idarraga & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Natalia Ramirez-Bustamante, 2023. "Shecession: The Downfall of Colombian Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 158-193, October.
    6. Danuta DUDA & Kamila TURECKOVA & Ivona BURYOVA & Radka KUBALOVA, 2022. "Maternity benefit: comparison of systems and financing in V4 countries," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 13, pages 141-163, October.
    7. Martina Querejeta Rabosto & Estefanía Galván & Cecilia Parada & Soledad Salvador, 2021. "Gender Gaps and Family Policies in Latin America," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4509, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    8. Gutiérrez, Diana & Martin, Guillermina & Ñopo, Hugo, 2020. "The coronavirus pandemic and its challenges to women’s work in Latin America," Documentos de Investigación dt111, Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE).
    9. Torm, Nina & Oehme, Marty, 2024. "Social protection and formalization in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review of the literature," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    10. Tu Thi Ngoc Le & Ngoc Thi Bich Pham, 2021. "The gender employment gap: the effects of extended maternity leave policy in Viet Nam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-171, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Amin,Mohammad & Islam,Asif Mohammed, 2022. "The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Women’s Employment : Evidence Using Firm-LevelSurvey Data from Developing Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10188, The World Bank.
    12. Girsberger, Esther Mirjam & Hassani-Nezhad, Lena & Karunanethy, Kalaivani & Lalive, Rafael, 2023. "Mothers at work: How mandating a short maternity leave affects work and fertility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Cecilia Machado & Valdemar Neto & Christiane Szerman, 2023. "Firm and Worker Responses to Extensions in Paid Maternity Leave," CESifo Working Paper Series 10736, CESifo.
    14. Karen García-Rojas & Paula Herrera-Idárraga & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Natalia Ramírez-Bustamante & Ana María Tribín-Uribe, 2020. "(She)cession: The Colombian female staircase fall," Borradores de Economia 1140, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Maternity leave; Female labor market; Labor regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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