Publications

Type of Publication: Article in Journal

Paid Parental Leave and Child Health in Australia

Author(s):
Broadway, Barbara; Kalb, Guyonne; Kuehnle, Daniel; Maeder, Miriam
Title of Journal:
Economic Record
Volume (Publication Date):
2017 (2017)
Number of Issue:
93
pages:
214-237
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):
doi:10.1111/1475-4932.12311
Citation:
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Abstract

Providing mothers with access to paid parental leave may be an important public policy to improve child and maternal health. Using extensive information from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, we estimate how paid parental leave entitlements influence children's health up to age 7. Exploiting detailed information on children's health, family background, mothers’ pre‐birth work histories and mothers’ health behaviours during pregnancy, we show that paid parental leave entitlements go together with a reduced probability of a child having multiple ongoing health conditions, but show no significant correlation with any single condition. We find that the reduction in multiple conditions is strongest for children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Our study implies that the provision of paid parental leave for short periods is unlikely to substantially improve child health on average, but may potentially benefit the health of more disadvantaged children.

Work in progress (selection)

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- How does parental education affect their children's mental health?  (with Patrick Sturm)

- Media campaigns and smoking (with Simon Reif)

- Distance to GPs and emergency hospital usage (with Ingo Kolodziej and Simon Reif)

- A Firm-side Perspective on Parental Leave Absences (with Mathias Huebener, Jonas Jessen and Michael Oberfichtner)

- The effects of a conditional home care subsidy on maternal employment,  child care choices, and children's development (with Matthias Collischon and Michael Oberfichtner)

- Does paternity leave promote gender equality in the labour market? (with Max Kunaschk and Michael Oberfichtner