Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/141560 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9801
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The introduction of the Australian Paid Parental Leave scheme in 2011 provides a rare opportunity to estimate the labour supply and employment impacts of publicly-funded paid leave on mothers in the first year post-partum. The almost universal coverage of the scheme coupled with detailed survey data collected specifically for this purpose means that eligibility for paid leave under the scheme can be plausibly taken as exogenous following a standard propensity score matching exercise. In line with much of the existing literature, we find a positive impact on leave taking in the first half year and on the probability of eventually returning to work in the first year. The paper provides new evidence of a positive impact on continuing in the same job and under the same conditions. Further new evidence shows that disadvantaged mothers – low income, less educated, without access to employer-funded leave – respond most to the scheme.
Subjects: 
labour supply
parental leave
mothers
duration analysis
propensity score matching
JEL: 
J13
J18
J22
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
1.65 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.