Does the Right to Work Part-Time Affect Mothers' Labor Market Outcomes?

This paper studies how the statutory right to work part-time affects mothers' post-birth labor market outcomes and higher-order fertility. I use a differences-in-differences design to investigate the introduction of a German law in 2001 that grants the right to work part-time to employees working in firms with more than 15 employees. I find that the reform does not increase the probability to return to work after childbirth significantly. However, mothers who gain the right to work part-time are more likely to work part-time in the short-run after childbirth, indicating that the law is effective in granting access to part-time employment to those mothers who want it. While the probability to return to work after childbirth is unaffected, the law has a positive effect on maternal employment and labor income in the long-run. The results suggest that the increase in the employment rate is due to a lower probability to drop out of the labor market after the temporary return and a lower probability to give birth to an additional child.