The Spillover Effects of Maternity Leave Policy on Young Women's Schooling Choices
The Spillover Effects of Maternity Leave Policy on Young Women's Schooling Choices
Author: Mariel Schwartz
Abstract: While much research has been done on the effects of maternity leave on children's outcomes and maternal employment, less is known about the effects of such policies on choices that are made before one's childbearing years. This paper seeks to fill that gap by focusing on the effect of maternity leave on young women's post-secondary schooling choices. I use the introduction of paid maternity leave and extension of job protection in Norway in 1977, which created plausibly exogenous variation in access to leave, and compare the educational outcomes of the sisters of parents who gave birth immediately prior to and following the reform. I find that having a sibling with access to paid leave reduced the probability of completing a post-secondary degree by 2.75-4.1 percentage points, from a base of 31%, and increased the probability of initiating childbearing by age 25 by 4.9 percentage points, from a base of 46%. Finally, I find that the greatest changes in schooling and timing of fertility occurred among the sisters of women whose earnings five years post-birth benefited the most from the reform.
Date: 2021
Date Added: 11/2/2021, 2:20:25 PM
Seminar notes:
Venue: CES Seminar 2021
Objective: To determine the effect of the introduction of maternity leave on schooling and fertility decisions
Importance: Short-run studies miss the schooling and fertility changes induced by a change in maternity leave requirements
This study uses sibling linkages - family leave policy will be more salient for sisters (information channel)
Background: Norway introduced maternity leave on July 1, 1977
Data & Key Variables:
Population register from Statistics Norway - Family linkages, DOB
Sample: sisters & sisters-in-law of women who gave birth (to first child) at time of introduction of maternity leave
Methodology: RD around July 1, 1977. Reform announced in April. No apparent bunching around that date
Results: 10% decrease in post-secondary schooling for women who had a sibling who gave birth after the reform.
No effect of the reform on long-run earnings & employment of mothers on average (but varies by pre-birth characteristics)
Increase in probability of having a child while young and being a single parent
Key Table/Figure: