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We document the changing labour force participation patterns of women with young children in Russia during 1992Russia during -2004. In this period maternity leave benefits became less generous, and childcare was privatized and became increasingly scarce. Using nationally representative household survey data it is shown that in 1992, there was essentially no association between the probability of a woman being a labour force participant and her having a child under age 3. However, by 2004, having children under age 3 had become associated with significantly reduced participation and employment probabilities, conditional on other observable characteristics of women and their households, and local factors. Several potential explanations for these findings are discussed.JEL classifications: J13, J16, P200. for very helpful suggestions on an earlier draft. All remaining errors are our own.

In this paper a life-cycle model is constructed to study the macroeconomic effects and welfare implications associated with eliminating mandatory retirement. Our short run analysis reveals that changes in welfare during the transition depend on the dynamic nature of the wage rate adjustment process. We distinguish between transitions in which the wage rate clears the labour market and transitions with a sticky wage and youth unemployment. We also examine political feasibility by measuring the popular support that this type of policy might have under the two labour market scenarios. Finally, we identify the effects that the policy has on welfare in the long run. JEL classification:

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