scholarly journals Paid Parental Leave Laws in the United States: Does Short-Duration Leave Affect Women's Labor-Force Attachment?

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 242-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya S. Byker
Keyword(s):  
Labor Force ◽  
Short Duration ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
The United States ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Women's Labor ◽  
Maternal Labor Supply ◽  
Paid Leave ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Labor Force Attachment

I analyze the effects of short-duration paid parental leave on maternal labor supply. Using monthly longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, my event-study research design estimates impacts of paid leave laws in California and New Jersey on women's labor-force outcomes around childbirth. I find that paid leave laws are associated with a substantial increase in labor-force attachment in the months directly around birth. While US-style short-duration leave is unlikely to change prolonged exits from the labor force, my findings imply that paid leave laws induce some women stay more attached to jobs, particularly low-skill women.

The Value of Postponing Pregnancy: California’s Paid Family Leave and the Timing of Pregnancies

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1467-1499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirlee Lichtman-Sadot
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Status ◽  
Hispanic Origin ◽  
Monetary Benefit ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Lower Education ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Conditioning a monetary benefit on individuals’ family status can create distortions, even in individuals’ seemingly personal decisions, such as the birth of a child. Birth timing and its response to various policies has been studied by economists in several papers. However, pregnancy timing – i.e. the timing of conception – and its response to policy announcements has not been examined. This paper makes use of a 21-month lag between announcing California’s introduction of the first paid parental leave program in the United States and its scheduled implementation to evaluate whether women timed their pregnancies in order to be eligible for the expected benefit. Using natality data, documenting all births in the United States, a difference-in-differences approach compares California births to births in states outside of California before the program’s introduction and in 2004, the year California introduced paid parental leave. The results show that the distribution of California births in 2004 significantly shifted from the first half of the year to the second half of the year, immediately after the program’s implementation. While the effect is present for all population segments of new mothers, it is largest for disadvantaged mothers – with lower education levels, of Hispanic origin, younger, and not married. These results shed light on the population segments most affected by the introduction of paid parental leave and on the equitable nature of paid parental leave policies.

Paid parental leave and fathers’ involvement: capturing fathers’ gender beliefs and fathering perceptions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa A. Streckenbach ◽  
Laura Castiglioni ◽  
Pia S. Schober
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Paid Leave ◽  
Indirect Care ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Gender Traditionalism

This study examines how multidimensional gender and fathering beliefs of fathers may explain their relative involvement in childcare after considering paid leave uptake. We draw on cross-sectional survey data from one German state, which allow us to distinguish three belief dimensions: (1) gender traditionalism and essentialism, (2) fathering attitudes, and (3) fathering self-concepts and self-efficacy. By means of multiple linear regression models we investigate how the different dimensions of gender and fatherhood beliefs relate to fathers’ relative involvement in basic and indirect childcare tasks. Our results show that gender (essentialist) ideologies and fatherhood attitudes were strongly associated with fathers’ relative involvement in both childcare domains. The higher fathers perceived self-efficacy in fathering, the more involved they were in basic but not indirect care. All belief dimensions mediated the positive association of fathers’ uptake of paid leave with their involvement in basic childcare.

scholarly journals Unilateral Divorce, the Decreasing Gender Gap, and Married Women's Labor Force Participation

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 342-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Fernández ◽  
Joyce Wong
Keyword(s):  
Labor Force ◽  
Labor Force Participation ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women's Labor ◽  
Cycle Model ◽  
Divorce Rates ◽  
Unilateral Divorce ◽  
Women's Labor Force Participation

Married women's labor force participation (LFP) increased dramatically in the United States between the 1940 and 1960 cohort. The two cohorts lived under different divorce regimes (unilateral divorce rather than mutual consent). The 1960 cohort also had a lower gender wage gap. We use a quantitative dynamic life-cycle model of endogenous marital status, calibrated to key statistics for the 1940 cohort, to study the effects of these two changes. We find that both drivers combined are able to account for over 50 percent of the increase in married women's LFP and also generate large movements in marriage and divorce rates.

scholarly journals The Effects of Early Work Experience on Young Women's Labor Force Attachment

Social Forces ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 1005-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Alon ◽  
D. Donahoe ◽  
M. Tienda
Keyword(s):  
Labor Force ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Women's Labor ◽  
Early Work Experience ◽  
Labor Force Attachment

scholarly journals Women's Labor Force Attachment and Childbearing in Finland

2004 ◽  
Vol Special 3 ◽  
pp. 177-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Vikat
Keyword(s):  
Labor Force ◽  
Women's Labor ◽  
Labor Force Attachment

scholarly journals Paid Family Leave to Strengthen the STEM Workforce

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Alex Hsain ◽  
Ryan Tam ◽  
Ishita Kamboj ◽  
Hanna Berman ◽  
Ryan Dudek
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women In Science ◽  
Family Leave ◽  
Stem Leave ◽  
Paid Family Leave ◽  
The Family ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
And Mathematics

In the United States many women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) leave their careers after becoming a parent. Attrition is simultaneously occurring with workforce shortages in STEM with two million jobs potentially unfilled by 2025. While there has been an increase in STEM recruitment of women over recent decades, policies aimed at decreasing departure of women in STEM have not been prioritized. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) guarantees workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, but has not shown to increase workforce attachment of new mothers. Instead, studies suggest that short durations of paid leave (6-12 weeks) increase workforce attachment. Medical consensus suggests that a leave of 26 weeks is necessary for maternal health and a leave of 40 weeks is optimal for infant well-being. Coupled with recently introduced paid parental leave legislation in Congress, we recommend timely action to decrease the departure of women from the workforce and to strengthen gender equality in STEM. We recommend instituting 12 weeks of federal paid family leave (PFL) under the recently introduced national family leave insurance program in the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (FAMILY Act; S. 463/H.R. 1185).

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