Parental Leave Policies and Child Care Time in Couples after Childbirth

Schober, Pia S.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2020177

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Contrary to studies in Sweden (Haas and Hwang 2008), the US (Nepomnyaschy and Waldfogel 2007) and the UK (Tanaka and Waldfogel 2007), they found ''limited support for the view that fathers leave taking at the time of the birth of a child is related to increased involvement of fathers in the care of the child' ' (2010: 1314). On the other hand, availability and length of maternity leave is strongly associated with mothers' time with children and their return-towork decisions (Pronzato 2009;Schober 2012;Whitehouse et al 2012). Particularly, unpaid maternity leave and flexible working hours are associated with greater likelihood that mothers will return to work after childbirth (Buddelmeyer and Fok 2007).…”

Section: Work and Childcare: Existing Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples

2016

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This paper uses Australian data from a national representative sample of Australian couples having their first child. Using data from before and after the birth of the child on a range of variables, including economic resources, gender attitudes, workplace flexibility, and availability of non-parental childcare, we first model the factors are associated with the decision to remain in work or not after the birth of the first child. The main finding here is that childbirth has a major impact on mothers' paid work-time, whereas for fathers it has very little impact. Factors that are related to a mother's decision to remain in work or not include the absolute (but not relative) pay of each parent, the father's workplace flexibility, and paid parental leave available to the mother. We then model the factors that govern, for those mothers remaining in paid work, how much paid work they undertake. We find that changing employers is related to mothers' work hours, as are absolute post-birth salaries, as is the relative pay of each partner. As with the decision to work or not, the availability of paid parental leave to the mother is significantly related to the amount of work-time for those mothers that do continue to work. Similarly, the use of external childcare is positively associated with maternal work hours. Finally, we model the factors that determine childcare time allocation and find that for neither parent do pre-birth economic resources significantly affect childcare time, once a decision about basic work patterns has been made. Gender role attitudes affect childcare time decisions, unlike work time decisions.

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Section: Work and Childcare: Existing Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples

2016

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“…Schoenberg and Ludsteck (2007) found that after the reform 8 per cent of mothers delayed their labour market return and subsequently earned lower wages partly as a result. Longer maternal time-outs were also associated with a more traditional division of housework and child care in West German couples during the first years after childbirth (Schober, 2012; Schulz and Rost, 2012).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework For Parental Leave Policy Effects On Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Leave and Domestic Work of Mothers and Fathers: A Longitudinal Study of Two Reforms in West Germany

Schober

2014

J. Soc. Pol.

100

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Following two parental leave reforms in West Germany, this research explores how child care and housework time changed among couples who have just had a child. The reform in 1992 extended the low paid or unpaid parental leave period, whereas the 2007 reform introduced income-dependent compensation and two ‘daddy months’. This study contributes to the literature by examining different mechanisms on how these reforms were associated with domestic work time in couples. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1990–2010), the analysis applies ordinary least square (OLS) regressions and difference-in-difference estimations. The findings point to a significant reduction in paternal child care time eighteen to thirty months after childbirth among couples with children born after the 1992 reform. The 2007 reform was associated with increased child care time of fathers in the first year and eighteen to thirty months after the birth. Changes in maternal child care and both partners’ housework were not statistically significant. Alterations in maternal and paternal labour market participation, wages and leave taking accounted for most of the observed variations in paternal child care except for eighteen to thirteen months after the 2007 reform. This unexplained variance may point to a normative policy effect.

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“…Moreover, childcare benefits to be paid to the mother during the leave are fixed and do not depend on previous earnings, while childrearing benefits are means-tested and dual earner families are typically ineligible. 7 This legislation has been proven to adversely affect women's labor supply, see Merz (2004) and Schober (2012), further reinforcing the existing prejudices delineated by Treas and Widmer (2000).…”

Section: The Case Of Germanymentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Age Penalty in Women's Wages: New Method and Evidence from Germany 1984-2014

2017

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SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research at DIW Berlin This series presents research findings based either directly on data from the German SocioEconomic Panel study (SOEP) or using SOEP data as part of an internationally comparable data set (e.g. CNEF, ECHP, LIS, LWS, CHER/PACO). SOEP is a truly multidisciplinary household panel study covering a wide range of social and behavioral sciences:

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Parental Leave Policies and Child Care Time in Couples after Childbirth

Cited by 5 publications

References 35 publications

The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples

The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples

Parental Leave and Domestic Work of Mothers and Fathers: A Longitudinal Study of Two Reforms in West Germany

Identifying Age Penalty in Women's Wages: New Method and Evidence from Germany 1984-2014

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