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Parental Leave Reforms and the Employment of New Mothers: Quasi-experimental Evidence from Japan

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  • Yukiko Asai

    (Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo)

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of changes in the parental leave income replacement rate on job continuity of new mothers' after childbearing. The Japanese government increased the parental leave income replacement rate from 0% to 25% in 1995 and from 25% to 40% in 2001, creating two natural experiments. I identify the causal effects of these reforms by comparing the changes in the regular employment of mothers who gave birth after the reforms and those who gave birth before the reforms. My results suggest that the two reforms had no significant effects on the job continuity of mothers who qualified for the reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Yukiko Asai, 2014. "Parental Leave Reforms and the Employment of New Mothers: Quasi-experimental Evidence from Japan," ISS Discussion Paper Series (series F) f169, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo.
    • Handle: RePEc:itk:issdps:f169
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parental leave; Income replacement; Job continuity ; Labour supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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