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Does Maternity Leave Encourage Higher birth Rates? An Analysis of the Australian Labour Market

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  • Leonora Risse

    (University of Queensland)

Abstract

This paper uses data from the 2003 HILDA Survey to assess the impact of maternity leave on the incidence of pregnancy among Australian women. The empirical analysis accounts for the fact that data on maternity leave is unobserved for non-working women and applies a Heckprobit selection model to control for potential sample selection bias. The analysis finds that the availability of maternity leave can significantly elevate pregnancy rates but this effect depends on a woman’s age and whether maternity leave is paid or unpaid. The findings imply that the implementation of national paid maternity leave legislation in Australia would work to encourage women to bring forward the timing of childbirths and help ease the economic pressures of the ageing population.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonora Risse, 2006. "Does Maternity Leave Encourage Higher birth Rates? An Analysis of the Australian Labour Market," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 9(4), pages 343-370, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ozl:journl:v:9:y:2006:i:4:p:343-370
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Bruce Chapman & Paul Flatau, 2004. "Introduction and Appendix: The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey Special Issue: Case Studies in Labour Economics," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 7(2), pages 109-124, June.
    9. Painter, Gary, 2000. "Tenure Choice with Sample Selection: Differences among Alternative Samples," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 197-213, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Inha Oh & Won-Sik Hwang & Hong Jun Yoon, 2019. "The Role of Work-Family Balance Policy for Enhancing Social Sustainability: A Choice Experiment Analysis of Koreans in their Twenties and Thirties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Bassford, Micaela & Fisher, Hayley, 2016. "Bonus babies? The impact of paid parental leave on fertility intentions," Working Papers 2016-04, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    3. Ahmed, Salma & Fielding, David, 2019. "Changes in maternity leave coverage: Implications for fertility, labour force participation and child mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Demographic Trends and Forecasts; General Migration; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth; Demographic Economics; Public Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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