The labor market impacts of America’s first paid maternity leave policy

Brenden Timpe

Journal of Public Economics, 2024, vol. 231, issue C

Abstract: This paper provides new evidence on the effect of a national expansion of paid maternity leave on the labor-market outcomes of women in the United States. I develop an identification strategy that exploits the staggered expansion of paid leave through short-term disability insurance in the 1960s and 1970s. The policy expanded leave-taking among new mothers but also precipitated a decrease in hourly wages, employment, and family income among women of child-bearing age. The results suggest that even modestly generous, widespread expansions of paid family leave policies have the potential to widen gender gaps in the labor market.

Keywords: Paid maternity leave; Labor market; Gender wage gap; Mandated benefits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H3 H42 J16 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:231:y:2024:i:c:s0047272724000033

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105067

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