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Parental Leave and Mothers' Careers: The Relative Importance of Job Protection and Cash Benefits

Author

Listed:
  • Lalive, Rafael

    (University of Lausanne)

  • Schlosser, Analia

    (Tel Aviv University)

  • Steinhauer, Andreas

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • Zweimüller, Josef

    (University of Zurich)

Abstract

Parental leave regulations in most OECD countries have two key policy instruments: job protection and cash benefits. This paper studies how mothers' return to work behavior and labor market outcomes are affected by alternative mixes of these key policy parameters. Exploiting a series of major parental leave policy changes in Austria, we find that longer cash benefits lead to a significant delay in return to work and that the magnitude of this effect depends on the relative length of job protection and cash benefits. However, despite their impact on time on leave, we do not find a significant effect on mothers' labor market outcomes in the medium run, neither of benefit duration nor of job-protection duration. To understand the relative importance (and interaction) of the two policy instruments in shaping mothers' return to work behavior, we set up a non-stationary job search model in which cash benefits and job protection determine decisions of when to return to work and whether or not to return to the pre-birth employer. Despite its lean structure, the model does surprisingly well in matching empirically observed return to work profiles. The simulation of alternative counterfactual regimes shows that a policy that combines both job protection and benefits payments succeeds to induce mothers to spend some time with the child after birth without jeopardizing their medium run labor market attachment.

Suggested Citation

  • Lalive, Rafael & Schlosser, Analia & Steinhauer, Andreas & Zweimüller, Josef, 2011. "Parental Leave and Mothers' Careers: The Relative Importance of Job Protection and Cash Benefits," IZA Discussion Papers 5792, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5792
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental leave; family and work obligations; return to work; labor supply; earnings; family earnings gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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