Paid Leave and the Timing of Women's Employment Before and After Birth

Labor force exit decisions of new mothers

“…The bulk of the literature on the question of women exiting the labor market after having a child is focused on the specific policy impact of the availability of paid maternal or paternal leave (for example, see Burgess et al 2008; Mogstad and Pronzato 2007;Ondrich et al 1996;Pronzanto 2009;Rønsen and Sundström 2002;Joesch 1997;Waldfogel et al 1999;Kenjoh 2005;Gustafsson et al 1996;Pylkkänen and Smith 2004;and Ruhm 1998). The focus of this paper is quite different from these studies.…”

Barefoot and in a German kitchen: Federal parental leave and benefit policy and the return to work after childbirth in Germany

“…Mothers who worked full time show stronger labor force attachment than mothers who worked part time and are likely to return to work earlier. O'Connell (1990) and Joesch (1995) demonstrated such an effect using U.S. data. Another indication of strong labor force attachment is given by years of labor force participation.…”

“…In preliminary estimations we experimented with including a squared years variable as well, but found that it explained little. Joesch (1995) found years of labor force participation to be an important determinant of early return. The final set of variables are indicators for firm size.…”

“…However, the effects on incidence and length of leave are positive, suggesting an increase of two weeks of leave for every covered new mother. Joesch (1995) uses the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth to analyze whether access to and length of paid leave affect when women stop and re-enter paid work before and after childbirth. Her event history analysis shows that women appear to increase their attachment to the labor force when given the opportunity to take paid leave.…”

Career Interruptions Due to Parental Leave

“…Many international comparative studies show that women appear to increase their attachment to the labour force when given the opportunity to take paid leave (see, for example, Ruhm & Teague, 1995;Joesh, 1995;. Thus, the positive effects to the labour market tend to outweigh the costs of conducting such parental leave and benefit policies and therefore legitimizes these family friendly polices (Joesh, 1995;Gustafsson et al, 1996;Rönsen & Sundström, 1996). Ruhm's (1998) comprehensive comparative study on European countries, for example, finds that parental leave legislation raises the female employment-to-population rate by 3 -4%, and even more for women of childbearing age.…”