Expansions in Maternity Leave Coverage and Children's Long-Term Outcomes

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dustmann, Christian; Schoenberg, Uta
• 署名单位: University of London; University College London
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.4.3.190
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 190-224
• 关键词: national longitudinal survey; parental leave; instrumental variables; educational-attainment; school-entry; head-start; EMPLOYMENT; care; HEALTH; 1st

摘要

This paper evaluates the impact of three major expansions in maternity leave coverage in Germany on children's long-run outcomes. To identify the causal impact of the reforms, we use a difference-in-difference design that compares outcomes of children born shortly before and shortly after a change in maternity leave legislation in years of policy changes, and in years when no changes have taken place. We find no support for the hypothesis that the expansions in leave coverage improved children's outcomes, despite a strong impact on mothers' return to work behavior after childbirth.