The Long-Run Effects of California's Paid Family Leave Act On Women's Careers and Childbearing: New Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design and U.S. Tax Data

Martha Bailey, Tanya Byker (), Elena Patel () and Shanthi Ramnath ()
Additional contact information
Tanya Byker: Middlebury College
Elena Patel: University of Utah
Shanthi Ramnath: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

No 16756, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use administrative tax data to analyze the cumulative, long-run effects of California's 2004 Paid Family Leave Act (CPFL) on women's employment, earnings, and childbearing. A regression-discontinuity design exploits the sharp increase in the weeks of paid leave available under the law. We find no evidence that CPFL increased employment, boosted earnings, or encouraged childbearing, suggesting that CPFL had little effect on the gender pay gap or child penalty. For first-time mothers, we find that CPFL reduced employment and earnings roughly a decade after they gave birth.

Keywords: gender gap; leave taking; gender; maternity leave; labor market; regression discontinuity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J08 J16 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2024-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-des, nep-gen, nep-inv and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2025, 17 (1), 401–431

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Long-Run Effects of California’s Paid Family Leave Act on Women’s Careers and Childbearing: New Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design and U.S. Tax Data (2024)
Working Paper: The Long-Run Effects of California’s Paid Family Leave Act on Women’s Careers and Childbearing: New Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design and U.S. Tax Data (2019)
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