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

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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 decrease in positive callbacks to female applicants relative to their male counterparts. In response, female job seekers submitted 4.4 more job applications, shifted toward jobs with 5.4% lower wages, and experienced 0.9 weeks longer job search duration than male applicants. 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," NBER Working Papers 34304, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34304
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    More about this item

    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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