How policy matters: Germany’s parental leave benefit reform and fathers’ behavior 1999-2009

Esther Geisler and Michaela R. Kreyenfeld
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Esther Geisler: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Michaela R. Kreyenfeld: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

No WP-2012-021, MPIDR Working Papers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

Abstract: In 2007, Germany enacted a radical new parental leave benefit scheme that grants parents 67 percent of their previous income, and includes two “daddy months.” In this paper, we use data from the German Microcensus for the period 1999 to 2009 to explore how this reform has changed fathers’ use of parental leave. We find strong overall increase in parental leave usage among men. Two groups of men in particular changed their behavior: highly educated men and fathers who are on fixed-term employment contracts.

Keywords: Germany; family (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-eur
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2012-021

DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2012-021

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