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The parenthood penalty in mental health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark

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  • Alexander Ahammer
  • Ulrich Glogowsky
  • Martin Halla
  • Timo Hener

Abstract

Using Austrian and Danish administrative data, we examine the impacts of parenthood on mental health. Parenthood imposes a greater mental health burden on mothers than on fathers. It creates a long-run gender gap in antidepressant prescriptions of about 93.2% (Austria) and 64.8% (Denmark). These parenthood penalties in mental health are unlikely to reflect differential help-seeking behavior across the sexes or postpartum depression. Instead, they are related to mothers' higher investments in childcare: Mothers who take extended maternity leave in quasi-experimental settings are more likely to face mental health problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Ahammer & Ulrich Glogowsky & Martin Halla & Timo Hener, 2023. "The parenthood penalty in mental health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark," Economics working papers 2023-12, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    • Handle: RePEc:jku:econwp:2023-12
    Note: English
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    Cited by:

    1. Marina Krauß & Niklas Rott, 2024. "Early Childcare Expansion and Maternal Health," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1208, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Halla, Martin & Weber, Andrea, 2024. "Persistent Low Inequality Despite Compositional Shifts in Austria," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 367, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    3. Dehos, Fabian T. & Paul, Marie & Schäfer, Wiebke & Süß, Karolin, 2024. "Time of Change: Health Effects of Motherhood," IZA Discussion Papers 16942, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Barschkett, M.; & Bosque-Mercader, L.;, 2024. "Building Health across Generations: Childbirth, Childcare and Maternal Health," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 24/08, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    5. Nora Bearth, 2024. "Beyond Baby Blues: The Child Penalty in Mental Health in Switzerland," Papers 2410.20861, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender equality; fertility; parenthood; motherhood; mental health; parental leave;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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