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The interactive effect of maternity leaves and child care enrollment on maternal employment

Sung-Tae Lee and Sun-Moon Jung

Economic Analysis and Policy, 2024, vol. 84, issue C, 344-353

Abstract: This cross-country empirical research investigates the impact of maternity leaves and the child care enrollment rates on increasing maternal employment. By analyzing data from OECD countries with country-fixed effects, we find that the child care enrollment for 0–2 year olds increases the maternity employment rate. We confirm an inverted U-shaped relationship between the maternity leave duration and the maternity employment rate, as evidenced in prior studies. More interestingly, we find that an interaction term between child care enrollment and maternity leave duration is significantly positive, suggesting that two variables play a complement role in enhancing maternal employment rate. By examining the independent and complementary effects of extended maternity leave and child care enrollment rates, our study suggests that their combined use significantly enhances maternal employment rates, highlighting a complementary relationship that policymakers should consider to support working mothers effectively.

Keywords: Family-friendly policies; Maternity employment; Maternity leaves; Child care services; Cross-country study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J16 J18 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:84:y:2024:i:c:p:344-353

DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2024.08.034

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