Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/278936 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16238
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Can a policy intervention in the stressful first year after a birth affect marital stability? We examine this question using a large expansion in maternity benefits in 1982 in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The program provided partially paid leave until the child's first birthday and included a small cash payment at birth. We use individual-level panel data and compare the Baltics with similar East European countries using a difference-indifferences framework. Maternity benefits decrease divorce within the first year after birth. This decrease persists for at least a decade, indicating that couples avoided divorce altogether rather than simply delaying it. While mothers extended their leave by several months, they returned to full-time work afterwards, consistent with egalitarian gender norms in the labor market.
Subjects: 
marriage
divorce
marital stability
maternity benefits
Baltics
Eastern Europe
JEL: 
J12
J16
J18
P2
P3
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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