TY - JOUR
T1 - The Effect of Prenatal Maternity Leave on Short and Long-term Child Outcomes
AU - Ahammer, Alexander
AU - Halla, Martin
AU - Schneeweis, Nicole
PY - 2020/3
Y1 - 2020/3
N2 - Maternity leave policies are designed to safeguard the health of pregnant workers and their unborn children. We evaluate a maternity leave extension in Austria which increased mandatory prenatal leave from 6 to 8 weeks. We exploit that the assignment to the extended leave was determined by a cutoff date. We find no evidence for significant effects of this extension on children's health at birth or long-term health and labor market outcomes. Subsequent maternal health and fertility are also unaffected. We conclude that employment during the 33rd and 34th week of gestation is not harmful for expecting mothers (without major problems in pregnancy) and their unborn children.
AB - Maternity leave policies are designed to safeguard the health of pregnant workers and their unborn children. We evaluate a maternity leave extension in Austria which increased mandatory prenatal leave from 6 to 8 weeks. We exploit that the assignment to the extended leave was determined by a cutoff date. We find no evidence for significant effects of this extension on children's health at birth or long-term health and labor market outcomes. Subsequent maternal health and fertility are also unaffected. We conclude that employment during the 33rd and 34th week of gestation is not harmful for expecting mothers (without major problems in pregnancy) and their unborn children.
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629619300773
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102250
DO - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102250
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-6296
VL - 70
JO - Journal of Health Economics
JF - Journal of Health Economics
M1 - 102250
ER -
