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Love your Leave, Don't Leave your Love! Paid Parental Leave and Children's Living Arrangements

Author

Listed:
  • Kamila Cygan-Rehm
  • Daniel Kühnle
  • Regina T. Riphahn

Abstract

We examine how a German paid parental leave reform causally affected early childhood living arrangements. The reform replaced a means-tested benefit with a universal transfer paid out for a shorter period. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that the reform increased the probability that a newborn lives with non-married cohabiting parents. This effect results from a reduced risk of single parenthood among women who gained from the reform. We reject the economic independence hypothesis and argue that the effects for reform winners are consistent with alternative hypotheses related to increased female financial attractiveness and increased paternal involvement in childcare.

Suggested Citation

  • Kamila Cygan-Rehm & Daniel Kühnle & Regina T. Riphahn, 2017. "Love your Leave, Don't Leave your Love! Paid Parental Leave and Children's Living Arrangements," CESifo Working Paper Series 6319, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6319
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental leave; living arrangements; marriage; cohabitation; single motherhood; child well-being; early childhood;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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