The Effects of California's Paid Family Leave Program on Mothers' Leave-Taking and Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes

Maya Rossin-Slater (), Christopher Ruhm and Jane Waldfogel ()
Additional contact information
Maya Rossin-Slater: Stanford University
Jane Waldfogel: Columbia University

No 6240, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This analysis uses March Current Population Survey data from 1999-2010 and a differences-in-differences approach to examine how California's first in the nation paid family leave (PFL) program affected leave-taking by mothers following childbirth, as well as subsequent labor market outcomes. We obtain robust evidence that the California program more than doubled the overall use of maternity leave, increasing it from around three to six or seven weeks for the typical new mother – with particularly large growth for less advantaged groups. We also provide suggestive evidence that PFL increased the usual weekly work hours of employed mothers of one-to-three year-old children by 6 to 9% and that their wage incomes may have risen by a similar amount.

Keywords: paid leave; leave-taking; maternity leave; parental leave; maternal employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J18 J2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2011-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2013, 32 (2), 224-245

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Effects of California's Paid Family Leave Program on Mothers’ Leave‐Taking and Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes (2013)
Working Paper: The Effects of California's Paid Family Leave Program on Mothers' Leave-Taking and Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes (2011)
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