Effects of Extending Paid Parental Leave on Children's Socio-Emotional Skills and Well-Being in Adolescence

Mikkel Aagaard Houmark (), Cecilie Marie Løchte Jørgensen, Ida Lykke Kristiansen and Miriam Gensowski
Additional contact information
Mikkel Aagaard Houmark: Aarhus University
Cecilie Marie Løchte Jørgensen: Aarhus University
Ida Lykke Kristiansen: University of Copenhagen

No 15421, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study how children's socio-emotional skills and well-being in adolescence are affected by an increase in the duration of parental care during infancy. Exploiting a Danish reform that extended paid parental leave in 2002 and effectively delayed children's entry into formal out-of-home care, we show that longer leave increases adolescent well-being, conscientiousness and emotional stability, and reduces school absenteeism. The effects are strongest for children of mothers who would have taken short leave in absence of the reform. This highlights how time spent with a parent is particularly productive during very early childhood.

Keywords: parental leave; early childhood; skill formation; parental investments; socio-emotional skills; personality; well-being; adolescence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 J13 J18 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 58 pages
Date: 2022-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-eur and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published - publishled in: European Economic Review, 2024, 170, 104880

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Related works:
Working Paper: Effects of Extending Paid Parental Leave on Children's Socio-Emotional Skills and Well-Being in Adolescence (2022)
Working Paper: Effects of Extending Paid Parental Leave on Children’s Socio-Emotional Skills and Well-Being in Adolescence (2022)
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