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Maternity Leave Extensions and Gender Gaps: Evidence from an Online Job Platform

Author

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  • Hanming Fang
  • Jiayin Hu
  • Miao Yu

Abstract

We investigate the unintended consequences of maternity leave extension on gender gaps in the labor market. Using millions of job applications on an online job platform and the staggered extension of maternity leave across Chinese provinces, we find that an average increase (22%) in the length of paid maternity leave led to a 3.7-percentage-point decline in positive callbacks to female applicants relative to their male counterparts, equivalent to 17% of the pre-policy mean. In response, female job seekers shifted toward jobs with 5.4% lower wages than male applicants, submitted 4.4 more job applications (20% of the pre-policy mean) and experienced 2.1 weeks (19% of the pre-policy mean) longer job search duration. We also find that government subsidies that partially cover firms' wage costs of extended maternity leave help alleviate its adverse impact on gender disparities in hiring.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanming Fang & Jiayin Hu & Miao Yu, 2025. "Maternity Leave Extensions and Gender Gaps: Evidence from an Online Job Platform," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2592, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    • Handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:2592
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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