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Parental Leave Policies in Europe and North America

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Author Info
Christopher J. Ruhm
Jackqueline L. Teague

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Abstract

Despite widespread international implementation, limited information is currently available on the economic impact of mandated family leave policies. This paper increases our understanding of the nature and effects of parental leave entitlements in several ways. First, we provide a brief history of family leave legislation in Europe and North America and summarize arguments relating to the efficiency and incidence of mandated leave. Second, we have constructed a longitudinal data set detailing durations of job- protected leave in 17 countries, during the 1960-89 period, and use this information to examine recent trends in the regulations. The data indicate that family leave durations grew rapidly during the decade of the 1970s, with more modest increases since that time. Third, we provide an exploratory investigation of the relationship between mandated leave policies and macroeconomic outcomes. The econometric estimates provide little support for the view that moderate periods of parental leave reduce economic efficiency but rather hint at a modest beneficial impact, particularly when considering paid time off work.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 5065.

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Date of creation: Mar 1995
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5065

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. McGuire, Thomas G. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 1993. "Workplace drug abuse policy," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 19-38, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Ronald G. Ehrenberg & George H. Jakubson, 1988. "Advance Notice Provisions in Plant Closing Legislation: Do They Matter?," NBER Working Papers 2611, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Levine, David I, 1991. "Just-Cause Employment Policies in the Presence of Worker Adverse Selection," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(3), pages 294-305, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Alan Krueger, 1994. "Observations on Employment-Based Government Mandates, With Particular Reference to Health Insurance," Working Papers 702, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
  5. Gruber, Jonathan, 1994. "The Incidence of Mandated Maternity Benefits," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 622-41, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Lazear, Edward P, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Kuhn, Peter, 1992. "Mandatory Notice," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(2), pages 117-37, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Summers, Lawrence H, 1989. "Some Simple Economics of Mandated Benefits," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 177-83, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1994. "Advance Notice, Job Search, and Postdisplacement Earnings," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-28, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Dorothea Alewell, Kerstin Pull, 2001. "An Internatioal Comparison and Assessment of Maternity Leave Regulation," Working Paper Series A 2001-02, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ruhm, Christopher J, 1997. "Policy Watch: The Family and Medical Leave Act," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 175-86, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. C. Katharina Spieß & Katharina Wrohlich, 2006. "The Parental Leave Benefit Reform in Germany: Costs and Labour Market Outcomes of Moving towards the Scandinavian Model," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 630, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. John Ekberg & Rickard Eriksson & Guido Friebel, 2005. "Parental Leave - A Policy Evaluation of the Swedish "Daddy-Month" Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 1617, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Hashimoto, Masanori & Percy, Rick & Schoellner, Teresa & Weinberg, Bruce A., 2004. "The Long and Short of It: Maternity Leave Coverage and Women’s Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 1207, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Duvander, Ann-Zofie & Ferrarini, Tommy & Thalberg, Sara, 2005. "Swedish parental leave and gender equality - Achievements and reform challenges in a European perspective," Arbetsrapport 2005:11, Institute for Futures Studies. [Downloadable!]
  7. Rafael Lalive & Josef Zweimüller, . "Does Parental Leave Affect Fertility and Return-to-Work? Evidence from a ”True Natural Experiment”," IEW - Working Papers iewwp242, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Pylkkänen, Elina & Smith, Nina, 2004. "The Impact of Family-Friendly Policies in Denmark and Sweden on Mothers’ Career Interruptions Due to Childbirth," IZA Discussion Papers 1050, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  9. Gerda R. Neyer, 2006. "Family policies and fertility in Europe: fertility policies at the intersection of gender policies, employment policies and care policies," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-010, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  10. Ekberg, John & Eriksson, Rickard & Friebel, Guido, 2004. "Sharing Responsibility? Short- and Long-term Effects of Sweden's "Daddy-Month" Reform," Working Paper Series 3/2004, Swedish Institute for Social Research. [Downloadable!]
  11. Daniela Del Boca & Marilena Locatelli, 2006. "The Determinants of Motherhood and Work Status: a Survey," CHILD Working Papers wp15_06, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Tatyana Teplova, 2005. "Balancing Work and Care in the Post-Soviet Russian Labour Market," Carleton Economic Papers 05-04, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2005. [Downloadable!]
  13. Joyce P. Jacobsen, 2008. "Accommodating Families," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2008-004, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Adrienne ten Cate, 2003. "The Impact of Provincial Maternity and Parental Leave Policies on Employment Rates of Women with Young Children in Canada," Department of Economics Working Papers 2003-03, McMaster University. [Downloadable!]
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