Maternity Benefits

The incidence of mandated maternity benefits.

I consider the labor-market effects of mandates which raise the costs of employing a demographically identifiable group. The efficiency of these policies will be largely dependent on the extent to which their costs are shifted to group-specific wages. I study several state and federal mandates which stipulated that childbirth be covered comprehensively in health insurance plans, raising the rel...

The Early Development and Health Benefits of Maternity Leave Mandates

We study the impact of an expansion of maternity leave mandates from 6 months to 12 months on the health and development of children. Our advantage relative to previous research lies in a compelling policy episode which improves the causal nature of inferences and a detailed data source which allows the investigation of more subtle health and development indicators. We estimate a substantial im...

Maternity

Maternity Leave Policies: Trade-Offs Between Labour Market Demands and Health Benefits for Children.

Over recent years many European Union countries have made changes to the design of the maternity leave provision. These policy developments reflect calls for greater gender equality in the workforce and more equal share of childcare responsibilities. However, while research shows that long period of leave can have negative effects on women's labour market attachment and career advancements, ear...

Maternity leave benefits in the United States: today's economic climate underlines deficiencies.

Maternity leave in the United States took a major and long-awaited leap forward on February 5, 1993, when the U.S. Federal Government enacted Public Law 103-3, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 (1). Drafted by the National Partnership for Women and Families (formerly the Women’s Legal Defense Fund), the purpose of the Act is to promote economic stability and preserve family integr...