Parental leave benefit and differential fertility responses: Evidence from a German reform

Kamila Cygan-Rehm

No 142, Working Papers from Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE)

Abstract: This paper examines the causal effects of a major change in the German parental leave benefit scheme on fertility. I use the unanticipated reform in 2007 to assess how a move from a means-tested to an earnings-related benefit affects higher-order births. By using the German Mikrozensus 2010, I find that the reform significantly affected the timing of higher-order births in the first three years. Overall, mothers initially reduce childbearing, thereby extending their birth spacing, but eventually fully compensate for the earlier losses. The negative effects are largely driven by lowest-income mothers who also do not display any catch-up effects. I also find a substantial heterogeneity inWest and East Germany. Because the reform aimed at parents with strong labor market attachment, the positive effects in the East suggest that the economic incentives essentially perform well, but their impact may be hampered by unfavorable institutional and cultural conditions in the West.

Keywords: fertility; family policy; reform; parental leave; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J18 J20 K36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2013-10
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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https://bgpe.cms.rrze.uni-erlangen.de/files/2023/0 ... -a-German-reform.pdf First version, 2013 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Parental leave benefit and differential fertility responses: evidence from a German reform (2016)
Journal Article: Parental leave benefit and differential fertility responses: evidence from a German reform (2016)
Working Paper: Parental Leave Benefit and Differential Fertility Responses: Evidence from a German Reform (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bav:wpaper:142_cyganrehm

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