Maternity leave and children's health outcomes in the long-term

Marc Fabel

Journal of Health Economics, 2021, vol. 76, issue C

Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of the length of maternity leave on children's health outcomes in the long-run. My quasi-experimental design evaluates an expansion in maternity leave coverage from two to six months, which occurred in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1979. The expansion came into effect after a sharp cutoff date and significantly increased the time working mothers stayed at home with their newborns during the first six months after childbirth. Using this cutoff date as a source of exogenous variation, I exploit German hospital registry data, which contains detailed information on the universe of inpatients’ diagnoses from 1995–2014. By tracking the health of treated and control children from age 16 up to age 35, this study provides new insights into the trajectory of health differentials over the life-cycle. I find that the legislative change generated positive long-term health effects: My intention-to-treat estimates show that children born after the implementation of the reform experience fewer hospital admissions and are less likely to be diagnosed with mental and behavioral disorders.

Keywords: Early childhood development; Health; Paid maternity leave; Long-term child outcomes; Life-cycle approach (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I18 J13 J18 J88 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:76:y:2021:i:c:s0167629621000163

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102431

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