The labor market impacts of America's first paid maternity leave policy

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Timpe, Brenden
• 署名单位: University of Nebraska System; University of Nebraska Lincoln
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105067
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: Paid maternity leave; labor market; Gender Wage Gap; mandated benefits

摘要

This paper provides new evidence on the effect of a national expansion of paid maternity leave on the labormarket outcomes of women in the United States. I develop an identification strategy that exploits the staggered expansion of paid leave through short-term disability insurance in the 1960s and 1970s. The policy expanded leave-taking among new mothers but also precipitated a decrease in hourly wages, employment, and family income among women of child-bearing age. The results suggest that even modestly generous, widespread expansions of paid family leave policies have the potential to widen gender gaps in the labor market.