The Impacts of Maternity Benefits on Early Education: Evidence from India

Abigail Stocker

Working Papers from Economics Department, William & Mary

Abstract: Maternity benefits are targeted at improving both children's and mothers' outcomes, but many women in the informal sector are not eligible for traditional maternity leave programs. This paper investigates the impact of IGMSY, a unique maternity benefits program in India, on early childhood education. The program launched in 2011, was piloted in 52 out of India's 640 districts, and provided cash transfers to women for their first and second live births regardless of employment status. Using a difference-in-differences approach across districts and cohorts, I find that the program increased preschool enrollment by 9 percentage points but did not increase enrollment, reading, or math competency in primary school. The effects on enrollment are strongest for children from poorer households, likely due to both improvements in health-related outcomes and increases in income.

Keywords: maternity benefits; cash transfer; education; preschool; mothers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I25 I38 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 69 pages
Date: 2025-10-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-iue, nep-sea and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cwm:wpaper:173

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