Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare and Long-term Child Outcomes

Natalia Danzer, Martin Halla, Nicole Schneeweis and Martina Zweimüller

No 10812, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We provide a novel interpretation of the estimated treatment effects from evaluations of parental leave reforms. Accounting for the counterfactual mode of care is crucial in the analysis of child outcomes and potential mediators. We evaluate a large and generous parental leave extension in Austria exploiting a sharp birthday cutoff-based discontinuity in the eligibility for extended parental leave and geographical variation in formal childcare. We find that estimated treatment effects on long-term child outcomes differ substantially according to the availability of formal childcare and the mother's counterfactual work behavior. We show that extending parental leave has significant positive effects on children's health and human capital outcomes only if the reform induces a replacement of informal childcare with maternal care. We conclude that care provided by mothers (or formal institutions) is superior to informal care-arrangements.

Keywords: parental leave; formal childcare; informal childcare; child development; maternal labor supply; fertility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H52 I38 J12 J13 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 62 pages
Date: 2017-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-eur
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published - revised version published in: Journal of Human Resources, 2022, 57 (6) 1826-1884;

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https://docs.iza.org/dp10812.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare, and Long-Term Child Outcomes (2022)
Working Paper: Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare and Long-term Child Outcomes (2017)
Working Paper: Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare and Long-term Child Outcomes (2017)
Working Paper: Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare and Long-term Child Outcomes (2017)
Working Paper: Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare and Long-term Child Outcomes (2017)
Working Paper: Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare and Long-term Child Outcomes (2017)
Working Paper: Parental Leave, (In)formal Childcare and Long-term Child Outcomes (2017)
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