Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/328211 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 18081
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Do religious beliefs affect responses to fertility incentives? We examine a 1982 maternity benefits expansion in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in a difference-in-differences framework with similar East European countries as comparisons. To isolate the importance of religion, we compare women who did and did not grow up in religious households when religion was formally outlawed, resulting in similar adult characteristics among women in the Baltics by importance of religion. Maternity benefits increased fertility only among women who grew up in religious families, providing novel evidence that cultural norms transmitted through the family can amplify the effects of public policies.
Subjects: 
fertility
culture
family policies
parental leave
religion
religiosity
JEL: 
J13
J18
P20
Z10
Z12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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