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Maternity Rights and Mothers' Return to Work

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Author Info
Simon Burgess
Paul Gregg
Carol Propper
Elizabeth Washbrook
ALSPAC Study Team ()

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Abstract

In this paper we use the ALSPAC cohort of 12,000 births to examine the effect of maternity rights on mothers' post-birth return to employment decisions. We aim to disentangle the effects of the terms of maternity rights entitlements from the effects of other factors (such as household wealth, personal preferences and labour market opportunities) that influence the timing of a mother's return to work. We adopt a discrete hazard model with instrumental variables to estimate a counterfactual of what mothers with rights would have done in the absence of this legislation. Mothers with rights have an underlying (but unobserved) stronger attachment to the labour market which prompts earlier return than on average. Nevertheless, even when we take this into account we find a substantial impact of maternity rights on behaviour. Having rights induces around 20 per cent more women to return to their previous job before 7 months than would otherwise be the case. Women from lower skilled groups return disproportionately at the date at which maternity pay expires, while managerial and professional women tend to return at the expiry of unpaid leave.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK in its series The Centre for Market and Public Organisation with number 02/055.

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Length: 62 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:02/055

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Related research
Keywords: government policy; welfare; child care; labor supply;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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  1. Simon Burgess & Carol Propper & John Rigg, 2004. "The Impact of Low-Income on Child Health: Evidence from a Birth Cohort Study," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 04/098, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Paul Gregg & Maria Gutierrez-Domenech & Jane Waldfogel, 2003. "The Employment of Married Mothers in Great Britain: 1974-2000," CEP Discussion Papers dp0596, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Andrea Bassanini & Danielle Venn, 2008. "The Impact of Labour Market Policies on Productivity in OECD Countries," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 17, pages 3-15, Fall. [Downloadable!]
  4. Herwig Immervoll & David Barber, 2006. "Can Parents Afford to Work? Childcare Costs, Tax-Benefit Policies and Work Incentives," IZA Discussion Papers 1932, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Joyce P. Jacobsen, 2008. "Accommodating Families," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2008-004, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Ana Espinola-Arredondo & Sunita Mondal, 2008. "The effect of parental leave on female employment: evidence from state policies," Working Papers 2008-15, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University. [Downloadable!]
  7. Esther Geisler & Michaela Kreyenfeld, 2009. "Against all odds: fathers’ use of parental leave in Germany," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-010, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  8. Uta Schönberg & Johannes Ludsteck, 2007. "Maternity Leave Legislation, Female Labor Supply, and the Family Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 2699, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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