Expansions in Maternity Leave Coverage and Mothers’ Labor Market Outcomes after Childbirth
利用德国五次产假覆盖范围扩大政策，通过双重差分法分析其对母亲产后就业率的短期和长期影响，发现短期就业率下降但长期影响较小。
This article analyzes the impact of five major expansions in maternity leave coverage in Germany on mothers’ labor market outcomes after childbirth. To identify the causal impact of the reforms, we use a difference-in-difference design that compares labor market outcomes of mothers who give birth shortly before and shortly after a change in maternity leave legislation in years of policy changes and years when no changes have taken place. Each expansion in leave coverage reduced mothers’ postbirth employment rates in the short run. The longer-run effects of the expansions on mothers’ postbirth labor market outcomes are, however, small.