Maternity Leave Reform and Women’s Labor Outcomes in Colombia: A Synthetic Control Analysis

Jhon James Mora (), Diana Yaneth Herrera Duque, Juan Tomas Sayago and Andres Cendales
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Jhon James Mora: Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Negocios y Economía Isaac Gilinsky, Cali 760031, Colombia
Diana Yaneth Herrera Duque: Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Negocios y Economía Isaac Gilinsky, Cali 760031, Colombia
Juan Tomas Sayago: Department of Economics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Andres Cendales: Departamento de Economía y Administración, Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad de Caldas, Manizales 170001, Colombia

Economies, 2025, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: This article examines the effects of maternity leave (Law 1822 of 2017) on the Colombian women’s labor market. Using biannual cohorts during the working life cycle of women (18 to 57 years old) reveals that the law’s implementation reduced the hours worked and the real hourly wage for younger women compared to older women. Average treatment effects show that the difference between the hours worked after 2017 was 0.917 (treatment vs. control), and before, it was 1.714 h worked (treatment vs. control). Differences show a reduction of 41 h per cohort and year (approximately one week worked). Synthetic control analysis shows that young cohort experienced a reduction of 0.007 U$ cents in 2017 and a reduction of 2.2 h worked in 2017. Our results highlight the importance of differential policies related to maternity leave by age (cohort) when analyzing the incorporation of women into the labor market.

Keywords: maternity leave; female labor market; labor regulation; quantitative and price effects; synthetic control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E F I J O Q (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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