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Career Breaks after Childbirth: The Impact of Family Leave Reforms in the Czech Republic

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  • Alena Bicakova
  • Klara Kaliskova

Abstract

The Czech Republic is a country with a strong attachment of women to the labor market, but with one of the longest paid family leaves, which is often followed by a spell of unemployment. Using a difference–in–differences methodology, we study the impact of two reforms of the duration of the parental allowance on the labor market status of mothers 2–7 years after childbirth. While the 1995 reform prolonged the allowance from 3 to 4 years, the 2008 reform allowed some parents to shorten the duration of the allowance to only 2 or 3 years with an equivalent total monetary amount. The impact of the reforms on the length of women’s career breaks following childbirth is substantial.

Suggested Citation

  • Alena Bicakova & Klara Kaliskova, 2016. "Career Breaks after Childbirth: The Impact of Family Leave Reforms in the Czech Republic," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp568, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    • Handle: RePEc:cer:papers:wp568
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Alzbeta Mangarella, 2016. "Mind the employment gap: an impact evaluation of the Czech “multi-speed” parental benefit reform," Working Papers hal-04141578, HAL.
    2. Alzbeta Mullerova, 2017. "Family policy and maternal employment in the Czech transition: a natural experiment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(4), pages 1185-1210, October.
    3. Canaan, Serena, 2022. "Parental leave, household specialization and children’s well-being," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Anna Šťastná & Jiřina Kocourková & Branislav Šprocha, 2020. "Parental Leave Policies and Second Births: A Comparison of Czechia and Slovakia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(3), pages 415-437, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    family leave; female labor supply; unemployment; policy evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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