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The Impact of Paid Family Leave on the Timing of Infant Vaccinations

Author

Listed:
  • Choudhury, Agnitra Roy

    (Auburn University)

  • Polachek, Solomon

    (Binghamton University, New York)

Abstract

Raising a new-born child involves not only financial resources, but also time investment from the parents. A time constraint can affect important decisions made by parents at the early stages of an infant's life. One form of investment that is particularly important is vaccinating an infant. We analyze the impact of time constraints on immunization of infants on time. To establish a causal relationship, we exploit California's implementation of Paid Parental Leave Program as a natural experiment. Using a nationally representative dataset from the National Immunization Survey, we find evidence that the policy reduced late vaccinations for children born to parents in California after the policy was implemented. We test for heterogeneous effects of the policy on different subgroups in the population. We find the policy had a stronger impact on families that are below the poverty line. We conduct a series of falsification tests and robustness checks to test the validity of the results. In addition, our results are robust to several placebo tests.

Suggested Citation

  • Choudhury, Agnitra Roy & Polachek, Solomon, 2019. "The Impact of Paid Family Leave on the Timing of Infant Vaccinations," IZA Discussion Papers 12483, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12483
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hajizadeh, Mohammad & Heymann, Jody & Strumpf, Erin & Harper, Sam & Nandi, Arijit, 2015. "Paid maternity leave and childhood vaccination uptake: Longitudinal evidence from 20 low-and-middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 104-117.
    2. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Günther Fink, 2014. "Disease and Development Revisited," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(6), pages 1355-1366.
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    4. David E. Bloom & David Canning, 2003. "Contraception and the Celtic Tiger," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 229-247.
    5. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2010. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(490), pages 493-505.
    6. Lawrence M. Berger & Jennifer Hill & Jane Waldfogel, 2005. "Maternity leave, early maternal employment and child health and development in the US," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(501), pages 29-47, February.
    7. Tirthatanmoy Das & Solomon W. Polachek, 2015. "Unanticipated Effects Of California'S Paid Family Leave Program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(4), pages 619-635, October.
    8. Daku, Mark & Raub, Amy & Heymann, Jody, 2012. "Maternal leave policies and vaccination coverage: A global analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 120-124.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    difference-in-difference; paid parental leave; vaccination; synthetic control method;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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