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Paid Parental Leave and Children's Schooling Outcomes

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  • Natalia Danzer
  • Victor Lavy

Abstract

This article investigates whether schooling outcomes at age 15 are affected by the duration of maternity leave, i.e. the time mothers spend at home with their new†born before returning to work. We exploit an unanticipated reform in Austria which extended the maximum duration of paid and job protected parental leave from 12 to 24 months for births as of 1 July, 1990. Using PISA data from the cohorts 1990 and 1987, we find no significant overall impact of the parental leave extension on standardised test scores. However, subgroup analyses reveal strong heterogeneity by maternal education and child gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Natalia Danzer & Victor Lavy, 2018. "Paid Parental Leave and Children's Schooling Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 81-117, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:econjl:v:128:y:2018:i:608:p:81-117
    DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12493
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    1. Thesis Thursday: Caroline Chuard
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2019-12-19 07:00:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Rita Ginja & Jenny Jans & Arizo Karimi, 2017. "Parental Investments in Early Life and Child Outcomes: Evidence from Swedish Parental Leave Rules," Working Papers 2017-085, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    3. Brenøe, Anne Ardila & Canaan, Serena & Harmon, Nikolaj & Royer, Heather, 2019. "Is Parental Leave Costly for Firms and Coworkers?," IZA Discussion Papers 12870, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    5. 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).
    6. Houmark, Mikkel Aagaard & Jørgensen, Cecilie Marie Løchte & Kristiansen, Ida Lykke & Gensowski, Miriam, 2022. "Effects of Extending Paid Parental Leave on Children's Socio-Emotional Skills and Well-Being in Adolescence," IZA Discussion Papers 15421, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Chuard, Caroline, 2023. "Negative effects of long parental leave on maternal health: Evidence from a substantial policy change in Austria," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Cansu Oymak & Jean-François Maystadt, 2023. "Can refugees improve native children’s health?: Evidence from Turkey," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023017, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    9. Ann-Marie Sommerfeld, 2023. "The Effect of Schooling on Parental Integration: Evidence from Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1198, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    10. Ann-Marie Sommerfeld, 2023. "The Effect of Schooling on Parental Integration," Jena Economics Research Papers 2023-018, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    11. Brade, Raphael & Himmler, Oliver & Jäckle, Robert, 2022. "Relative performance feedback and the effects of being above average — field experiment and replication," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Lídia Farré & Cristina Felfe & Libertad González & Patrick Schneider, 2022. "Changing Gender Norms across Generations: Evidence from a Paternity Leave Reform," Working Papers 1310, Barcelona School of Economics.
    13. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Kuehnle, Daniel & Riphahn, Regina T., 2018. "Paid parental leave and families’ living arrangements," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 182-197.
    14. Francesca Carta, 2019. "Female labour supply in Italy: the role of parental leave and child care policies," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 539, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    15. Mariano Tommasi & María Edo & Agustina Thailinger, 2021. "Familia y desarrollo humano en el siglo XXI. Revisión de la literatura internacional y algunos apuntes para el caso argentino," Working Papers 152, Universidad de San Andres, Departamento de Economia, revised May 2021.
    16. Feng Chen, 2023. "Does paid family leave save infant lives? Evidence from California's paid family leave program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 319-337, April.
    17. Laura Goßner & Yuliya Kosyakova & Marie-Christine Laible, 2022. "Resilient or Vulnerable? Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Mental Health of Refugees in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-20, June.
    18. Regmi, Krishna & Wang, Le, 2022. "Maternity Leave," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1184, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    19. Brade, Raphael & Himmler, Oliver & Jäckle, Robert, 2018. "Normatively Framed Relative Performance Feedback – Field Experiment and Replication," MPRA Paper 88830, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Troccoli, Claudia, 2023. "Does Paid Parental Leave Affect Children's Schooling Outcomes? Replicating Danzer and Lavy (2018)," I4R Discussion Paper Series 21, The Institute for Replication (I4R).
    21. 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.

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