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Maternity leave and children's health outcomes in the long-term

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  • Fabel, Marc

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of the length of maternity leave on children's health outcomes in the long-run. My quasi-experimental design evaluates an expansion in maternity leave coverage from two to six months, which occurred in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1979. The expansion came into effect after a sharp cutoff date and significantly increased the time working mothers stayed at home with their newborns during the first six months after childbirth. Using this cutoff date as a source of exogenous variation, I exploit German hospital registry data, which contains detailed information on the universe of inpatients’ diagnoses from 1995–2014. By tracking the health of treated and control children from age 16 up to age 35, this study provides new insights into the trajectory of health differentials over the life-cycle. I find that the legislative change generated positive long-term health effects: My intention-to-treat estimates show that children born after the implementation of the reform experience fewer hospital admissions and are less likely to be diagnosed with mental and behavioral disorders.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabel, Marc, 2021. "Maternity leave and children's health outcomes in the long-term," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:76:y:2021:i:c:s0167629621000163
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102431
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    2. Yinhe Liang & Xiaobo Peng & Meiping Aggie Sun, 2024. "Long-Term Impacts of Growth and Development Monitoring: Evidence from Routine Health Examinations in Early Childhood," CESifo Working Paper Series 10912, CESifo.
    3. Regmi, Krishna & Wang, Le, 2022. "Maternity Leave," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1184, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Early childhood development; Health; Paid maternity leave; Long-term child outcomes; Life-cycle approach;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J88 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Public Policy

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