Evidence From Maternity Leave Expansions of the Impact of Maternal Care on Early Child Development

Michael Baker and Kevin Milligan

No 13826, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study the impact of maternal care on early child development using an expansion in Canadian maternity leave entitlements. Following the leave expansion, mothers who took leave spent between 48 and 58 percent more time not working in the first year of their children's lives. We find that this extra maternal care primarily crowded out home-based care by unlicensed non-relatives, and replaced mostly full-time work. However, the estimates suggest a weak impact of the increase in maternal care on indicators of child development. Measures of family environment and motor-social development showed changes very close to zero. Some improvements in temperament were observed but occurred both for treated and untreated children.

JEL-codes: J13 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-lab
Note: CH LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

Published as Michael Baker & Kevin Milligan, 2010. "Evidence from Maternity Leave Expansions of the Impact of Maternal Care on Early Child Development," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(1).

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Journal Article: Evidence from Maternity Leave Expansions of the Impact of Maternal Care on Early Child Development (2010)
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