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The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Maternal Health

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Abstract

We examine the impact of the introduction of paid maternity leave in Norway in 1977 on maternal health. Before the policy reform, mothers were eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Mothers giving birth after July 1, 1977 were entitled to 4 months of paid leave and 12 months of unpaid leave. We combine Norwegian administrative data with survey data on the health of women around age 40 and estimate the medium- and long-term impacts of the reform using regression discontinuity and difference-inregression discontinuity designs. Our results suggest paid maternity leave benefits are protective of maternal health. The reform improved a range of maternal health outcomes, including BMI, blood pressure, pain, and me mntal health, and it 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. We also study the maternal health effects of subsequent expansions in paid maternity leave and find evidence of diminishing returns to leave length.

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  • Bütikofer, Aline & Riise, Julie & Skira, Meghan, 2018. "The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Maternal Health," Working Papers in Economics 1/18, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:bergec:2018_001
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    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. Diogo G.C. Britto & Caio de Holanda & Alexandre Fonseca & Breno Sampaio, 2025. "Parental leave, family, and firms," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2025-71, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Andra Hiriscau, 2024. "The Effect of Paid Maternity Leave on Fertility and Mothers’ Labor Force Participation," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 350-384, September.
    3. Elizabeth Brainerd & Olga Malkova, 2023. "Maternity benefits and marital stability after birth: evidence from the Soviet Baltic republics," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 2309-2345, October.
    4. 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).
    5. Dahl, Gordon & Loken, Katrine V., 2024. "Families, public policies, and the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics,, Elsevier.
    6. 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.
    7. 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).
    8. Heisig, Katharina & Zierow, Larissa, 2025. "Paid parental leave and long-term outcomes of children—Quasi-experimental evidence from former East Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    9. Nathalie Havet & Guy Lacroix & Morgane Plantier, 2024. "The impact of parental benefits on disadvantaged households," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 761-779, June.
    10. Benedikt Janzen, 2022. "Temperature and Mental Health: Evidence from Helpline Calls," Papers 2207.04992, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2022.
    11. Timpe, Brenden, 2024. "The labor market impacts of America’s first paid maternity leave policy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    12. 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).
    13. Grant, Darren, 2022. "The “Quiet Revolution” and the cesarean section in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    14. 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.
    15. Fabel, Marc, 2021. "Maternity leave and children's health outcomes in the long-term," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. 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).
    17. 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.
    18. Gordon Dahl & Katrine Loken, 2024. "Families, Public Policies, and the Labor Market," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2423, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    19. Jones, Kelly & Wilcher, Britni, 2024. "Reducing maternal labor market detachment: A role for paid family leave," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    20. 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).
    21. Renner, Anna-Theresa & Shaikh, Mujaheed & Spitzer, Sonja, 2025. "Absence from work and lifetime smoking behavior: Evidence from European maternal leave policies," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    22. Brewer, Mike & Dang, Thang & Tominey, Emma, 2024. "Universal Credit: Welfare reform and mental health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    23. Huang, Chen & Jia, Ning, 2025. "Do policies reshape attitudes? Evidence from maternity leave expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    24. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2022. "The long-run impacts of paid maternity leave on height and educational attainment," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • 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

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