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The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Maternal Health

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  • Aline Bütikofer
  • Julie Riise
  • Meghan M. Skira

Abstract

We examine the impact of the introduction of paid maternity leave in Norway in 1977 on maternal health in the medium and long term. Using administrative data combined with survey data on the health of women around age 40, we find the reform improved a range of maternal health outcomes, including BMI, blood pressure, pain, and mental health. The reform also increased health-promoting behaviors, such as exercise and not smoking. The effects were larger for first-time and low-resource mothers and women who would have taken little unpaid leave in the absence of the reform.

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  • Aline Bütikofer & Julie Riise & Meghan M. Skira, 2021. "The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Maternal Health," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 67-105, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:13:y:2021:i:1:p:67-105
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190022
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Thesis Thursday: Caroline Chuard
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2019-12-19 07:00:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Lalive, Rafael, 2021. "Mothers at Work: How Mandating Paid Maternity Leave Affects Employment, Earnings and Fertility," CEPR Discussion Papers 16418, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Fabel, Marc, 2021. "Maternity leave and children's health outcomes in the long-term," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen & Miriam Wüst & Johannes Wohlfart, 2020. "Missing a Nurse Visit," Discussion Papers 20-09, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    4. Grant, Darren, 2022. "The “Quiet Revolution” and the cesarean section in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    5. Benedikt Janzen, 2022. "Temperature and Mental Health: Evidence from Helpline Calls," Papers 2207.04992, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.
    6. Girsberger, Esther Mirjam & Hassani-Nezhad, Lena & Karunanethy, Kalaivani & Lalive, Rafael, 2023. "Mothers at work: How mandating a short maternity leave affects work and fertility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen & Miriam Wust, 2020. "The Timing of Early Interventions and Child and Maternal Health," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 20/720, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    8. Lee, Bethany C. & Modrek, Sepideh & White, Justin S. & Batra, Akansha & Collin, Daniel F. & Hamad, Rita, 2020. "The effect of California's paid family leave policy on parent health: A quasi-experimental study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    9. Hirani, Jonas Cuzulan & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik & Wüst, Miriam, 2020. "Missing a Nurse Visit," IZA Discussion Papers 13485, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
      • Miriam Wüst & Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen, 2021. "Missing a Nurse Visit," CEBI working paper series 20-09, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    10. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2022. "The long-run impacts of paid maternity leave on height and educational attainment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    11. Lebihan, Laetitia & Mao Takongmo, Charles Olivier, 2023. "The effect of paid parental leave on breastfeeding, parental health and behavior," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    12. Chuard, Caroline, 2023. "Negative effects of long parental leave on maternal health: Evidence from a substantial policy change in Austria," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

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