Maternity Leave Policies and Labor Market Effects Público

Hansen, Lucy (Spring 2019)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/0p0967801?locale=pt-BR
Published

Abstract

Using legislative data from the National Partnership of Women and Families, this paper evaluates the effects of various family leave policies across all 50 states on female labor supply. I use three fixed effects models to estimate the impact of state-level legislation on labor force participation, weeks worked, and hours worked for new mothers. There is evidence that paid family and medical leave, currently in effect in California, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island, significantly increases work and labor force participation in the majority of the models. When legislated family leave is not necessarily paid, the strongest family leave policies are associated with increased labor force participation but reduced work. Results also suggest that the combined effect of a state’s various leave and related policies for mothers has a positive, significant effect on work. While some types of legislation have opposing effects, there is evidence to suggest that overall more generous state-level family leave policies combine to create environments in certain states that lead to increased female labor supply.

Table of Contents

I.              Introduction, 1                                                                                                                             

II.             Background and Related Literature, 4                                                                                 

a.    Family Leave Policy in the United States, 4                                                               

b.    Related Literature, 5                                                                                                              

III.           Methodology, 9                                                                                                                              

IV.           Data, 12                                                                                                                                                

a.    Legislative Data, 12                                                                                                      

                   i.    Table 1: State Totals for Eight Legislative Variables, 19                                                    

b.    Labor Market Data, 20                                                                                                       

                   i.    Table 2: Demographics of ACS Sample of Women Aged 19-45, 22                                  

V.            Results, 22                                                                                                                                                

a.    Effects of Leave Legislation on Labor Force Participation, 22                                              

                   i.    Table 3: Effects of Legislative Variables (standard) on Labor Force Participation, 25     

                 ii.    Table 4: Effects of Legislative Variables (expanded) on Labor Force Participation, 27     

                iii.    Table 5: Effects of Total Legislative Score on Labor Force Participation, 28                       

b.    Effects of Leave Legislation on Hours Worked, 28                                                           

                   i.    Table 6a: Effects of Legislative Variables (standard) on Usual Weekly Hours (includes nonworking women), 30      

                 ii.    Table 6b: Effects of Legislative Variables (standard) on Usual Weekly Hours (conditional on work), 31

                iii.    Table 7a: Effects of Legislative Variables (expanded) on Usual Weekly Hours (includes nonworking women), 33

                iv.    Table 7b: Effects of Legislative Variables (expanded) on Usual Weekly Hours (conditional on work), 24

                  v.    Table 8a: Effects of Total Legislative Score on Usual Weekly Hours (includes nonworking women), 35

                vi.    Table 8b: Effects of Total Legislative Score on Usual Weekly Hours (conditional on work), 36

c.    Effects of Leave Legislation on Weeks Worked, 36                                                  

                   i.    Table 9: Effects of Legislative Variables (standard) on Weeks Worked, 37      

                 ii.    Table 10: Effects of Legislative Variables (expanded) on Weeks Worked (previous year), 39                                                                                                   

                iii.    Table 11: Effects of Total Legislative Score on Weeks Worked (previous year), 40

VI.           Discussion, 30

VII.         Conclusion, 44                                                                                                                   

References, 46                                                                                                                                  

Appendix A—Specific Anomalies in Coding Legislative Variables, 48                                              

Appendix B – Additional Tables, 54                                                                                                              

    Table 12: Effects of Legislative Variables (standard) on Male Labor Force Participation, 54

    Table 13: Effects of Legislative Variables (expanded) on Male Labor Force Participation, 55

    Table 14: Effects of Total Legislative Score on Male Labor Force Participation,  56

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