Maternity and parental leave policies are on the forefront of the current political agenda in Canada. This paper answers the question: does maternity and parental leave (M/PL) policy raise or lower the probability of employment for a woman? One unique feature of M/PL policy in Canada is the variation in mandated unpaid job-protected leave allowances across provinces. This variation is used in this study to identify the effect of provincial M/PL policies on employment rates of women with young children. Using the Canadian Labour Force Survey (LFS) data from 1976 to 2000, I find evidence that M/PL policy reduces the gap between the employment probabilities of women with young children versus women with older children. Moreover, a difference-in-differences model predicts a 3 to 4 percent increase in the probability of employment for women with young children (aged 0 to 2) relative to women with older children as a result of M/PL policy.
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Length: 48 pages Date of creation: Mar 2003 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:mcm:deptwp:2003-03
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Find related papers by JEL classification: J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
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