IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jmerit/v3y2023i1p12-205d1089194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What If Moms Quiet Quit? The Role of Maternity Leave Policy in Working Mothers’ Quiet Quitting Behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Tingting Zhang

    (Department of Hospitality Services, College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32819, USA)

  • Chloe Rodrigue

    (Biomedical Science Department, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32819, USA)

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effects of various maternity leave support on the quiet quitting behaviors and mental health conditions of working mothers across industries during the post-pandemic period. Through an empirical survey method of 310 valid responses from a panel data, the study results indicated that working mothers who took maternity leave were less likely to adopt quiet quitting behaviors when they returned to work after childbirth and showed better mental health at work compared to their peers who did not take maternity leave because of childbirth and/or childcare. Additionally, paid maternity leave was not found to have a significant effect on quiet quitting behaviors and mental health of working mothers across industries, but the duration of maternity leave was found as a significant factor in impacting working mothers’ quiet quitting behaviors and their mental health conditions. Moreover, peer workers’ quiet quitting behaviors and supervisors’ support for childcare (e.g., flexible work schedule) were found significantly to improve working mothers’ quiet quitting tendencies at work. Lastly, there exist significant differences in age and race in the working mothers’ quiet quitting behaviors at work.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmerit:v:3:y:2023:i:1:p:12-205:d:1089194
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/3/1/12/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8104/3/1/12/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Dur & Robin Zoutenbier, 2015. "Intrinsic Motivations of Public Sector Employees: Evidence for Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 16(3), pages 343-366, August.
    2. Rossin-Slater, Maya, 2017. "Maternity and Family Leave Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 10500, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Zagorsky, J.L., 2017. "Divergent trends in US maternity and paternity leave, 1994-2015," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(3), pages 460-465.
    4. Hamish Low & Virginia Sánchez-Marcos, 2015. "Female labour market outcomes and the impact of maternity leave policies," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, December.
    5. Maya Rossin-Slater, 2017. "Maternity and Family Leave Policy," NBER Working Papers 23069, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. 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).
    7. Avendano, Mauricio & Berkman, Lisa F. & Brugiavini, Agar & Pasini, Giacomo, 2015. "The long-run effect of maternity leave benefits on mental health: Evidence from European countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 45-53.
    8. 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.
    9. Rossin, Maya, 2011. "The effects of maternity leave on children's birth and infant health outcomes in the United States," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 221-239, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Aline Bütikofer & Julie Riise & Meghan M. Skira, 2021. "The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Maternal Health," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 67-105, February.
    2. Chuard, Caroline, 2020. "Womb at work: The missing impact of maternal employment on newborn health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    3. Samantha Trajkovski, 2019. "California Paid Family Leave and Parental Time Use," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 217, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    4. Wookun Kim, 2023. "Baby Bonus, Fertility, and Missing Women," Departmental Working Papers 2308, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.
    5. 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).
    6. Rita Ginja & Jenny Jans & Arizo Karimi, 2020. "Parental Leave Benefits, Household Labor Supply, and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 261-320.
    7. 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.
    8. Ginja, Rita & Jans, Jenny & Karimi, Arizo, 2017. "Parental Investments in Early Life and Child Outcomes. Evidence from Swedish Parental Leave Rules," Working Papers in Economics 17/17, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    9. 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.
    10. Chia Jung Chang, 2021. "Is the Road to Unemployment Paved with Good Intentions? Labor Market Outcomes of Young Women," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 244-302, June.
    11. Benjamin Bennett & Isil Erel & Léa H. Stern & Zexi Wang, 2020. "Paid Leave Pays Off: The Effects of Paid Family Leave on Firm Performance," NBER Working Papers 27788, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Natalia Danzer & Martin Halla & Nicole Schneeweis & Martina Zweimüller, 2022. "Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare, and Long-Term Child Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(6), pages 1826-1884.
    13. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Johanna Posch & Andreas Steinhauer & Josef Zweimüller, 2024. "Do Family Policies Reduce Gender Inequality? Evidence from 60 Years of Policy Experimentation," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 110-149, May.
    14. Iris Delgado & Baltica Cabieses & Mauricio Apablaza & Carla Castillo & Ximena Aguilera & Isabel Matute & Manuel Najera & Juan M Pericàs & Joan Benach, 2019. "Evaluation of the effectiveness and equity of the maternity protection reform in Chile from 2000 to 2015," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, September.
    15. Alzate, David & Carranza, Eliana & Duran-Franch, Joana & Packard, Truman & Proffen, Celina, 2024. "How Regulations Impact the Labor Market: A Review of the Literatures on Product and Labor Market Regulations," IZA Discussion Papers 17536, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Lalive, Rafael, 2021. "Mothers at Work: How Mandating Paid Maternity Leave Affects Employment, Earnings and Fertility," CEPR Discussion Papers 16418, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Gørtz, Mette & Sander, Sarah & Sevilla, Almudena, 2023. "Does the Child Penalty Strike Twice, and If So Why?," IZA Discussion Papers 16557, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. 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.
    19. Wookun Kim, 2024. "Baby Bonus, Fertility, and Missing Women," CESifo Working Paper Series 11215, CESifo.
    20. Cecilia Machado & Valdemar Neto & Christiane Szerman, 2023. "Firm and Worker Responses to Extensions in Paid Maternity Leave," CESifo Working Paper Series 10736, CESifo.

    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:gam:jmerit:v:3:y:2023:i:1:p:12-205:d:1089194. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.