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Parental Leave and Children's Schooling Outcomes: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from a Large Parental Leave Reform

Author

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  • Danzer, Natalia

    () (Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

  • Lavy, Victor

    () (Hebrew University, Jerusalem)

Abstract

This paper investigates the question whether long-term human capital outcomes are affected by the duration of maternity leave, i.e. by the time mothers spend at home with their newborn before returning to work. Employing RD and difference-in-difference approaches, this paper exploits an unanticipated reform in Austria which extended the maximum duration of paid and job protected parental leave from 12 to 24 months for children born on July 1, 1990 or later. We use test scores from the Austrian PISA test of birth cohorts 1990 and 1987 as measure of human capital. The evidence suggest no significant overall impact of the extended parental leave mandate on standardized test scores at age 15, but that the subgroup of boys of highly educated mothers have benefited from this reform while boys of low educated mothers were harmed by it.

Suggested Citation

  • Danzer, Natalia & Lavy, Victor, 2013. "Parental Leave and Children's Schooling Outcomes: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from a Large Parental Leave Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 7626, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7626
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    1. Nicole Schneeweis & Martina Zweimüller, 2014. "Early Tracking and the Misfortune of Being Young," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 116(2), pages 394-428, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Saurer, Judith & Felfe, Christina, 2014. "Granting Birthright Citizenship - A Door Opener for Immigrant Children's Educational Participation and Success?," Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100548, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Dejan Kovac, 2017. "Do Fathers Matter?: Paternal Mortality and Children's Long-Run Outcomes," Working Papers 609, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    3. Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2015. "Maternity leave and children’s cognitive and behavioral development," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(2), pages 373-391, April.
    4. Katrin Huber, 2015. "Moving to an Earnings-Related Parental Leave System: Do Heterogeneous Effects on Parents Make Some Children Worse Off?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 791, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Beuchert, Louise Voldby & Humlum, Maria Knoth & Vejlin, Rune, 2016. "The length of maternity leave and family health," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 55-71.
    6. Broadway, Barbara & Kalb, Guyonne & Kühnle, Daniel & Maeder, Miriam, 2015. "The Effect of Paid Parental Leave on Child Health in Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 8978, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    7. repec:bla:ecorec:v:93:y:2017:i:301:p:214-237 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Katrin Huber, 2015. "Moving to an earnings-related parental leave system – do heterogeneous effects on parents make some children worse off?," Working Papers 160, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    9. JAMES, Jonathan & VUJIC, Suncica, 2016. "From high school to the high chair: Education and fertility timing," Working Papers 2016005, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Applied Economics.
    10. Christina Felfe & Helmut Rainer & Judith Saurer, 2016. "Why Birthright Citizenship Matters for Immigrant Children: Impacts on Parental Educational Choice," CESifo Working Paper Series 6037, CESifo Group Munich.
    11. Christina Felfe & Judith Saurer, 2015. "Granting Birthright Citizenship - A Door Opener for Immigrant Children's Educational Participation and Success?," ifo Working Paper Series 208, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    12. Huber, Katrin, 2015. "Moving to an earnings-related parental leave system do heterogeneous effects on parents make some children worse off?," Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113044, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental leave reform; maternal employment; human capital; child development; cognitive skills;

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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