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Connecting the Dots: The Early Impacts of Increased Paid Maternity Leave on Child Development

Author

Listed:
  • Catherine Haeck

    (Department of Economics, University of Quebec in Montreal)

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effect of extended maternal care on children's development at age 4 and 5 using observational data prior to and after the Canadian parental leave reform, which extended total paid leave from 25 to 50 weeks. In contrast with previous research on the Canadian parental leave reform, we estimate the impact of the reform while controlling for underlying trends in the outcome variables. We find that the policy change had positive effects on the cognitive development of children as well as parent-reported measures of child health and family well-being. Effects on behavioral development are mainly not significant. These results must be interpreted with respect to the effective treatment period and the type of care displaced. We find that mothers increased their time at home from 7 to 11 months and that the type of care displaced was mainly unregulated and provided by individuals without specific training.

Suggested Citation

  • Catherine Haeck, 2015. "Connecting the Dots: The Early Impacts of Increased Paid Maternity Leave on Child Development," Working Papers 15-01, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:grc:wpaper:15-01
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    File URL: https://grch.esg.uqam.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/82/Haeck_GRCH_WP15-01.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2015
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Huebener, Mathias & Kuehnle, Daniel & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2019. "Parental leave policies and socio-economic gaps in child development: Evidence from a substantial benefit reform using administrative data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    2. Mathias Huebener & Daniel Kuehnle & C. Katharina Spiess, 2017. "Paid Parental Leave and Child Development: Evidence from the 2007 German Parental Benefit Reform and Administrative Data," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1651, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    maternity leave reform; child development; family well-being; natural experiment;
    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
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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