Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35548 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4267
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Many OECD countries have implemented policies to induce couples to share parental leave. This paper investigates how responsive intra-household leave-sharing is to changes in economic incentives. To investigate this fundamental question, we are forced to look at one of the Nordic countries which are the most progressive when it comes to family-friendly policies. An extensive reform of child leave schemes in Denmark affected couples differently depending on whether the parents where employed in the same or in different parts of the public sector. Based on a difference-in-differences strategy, I find that economic incentives are very important for intra-household leave-sharing. Increasing the couples' after tax income by $9 per day of leave which is transferred from the mother to the father is found to lead to a one day transfer. This corresponds to a supply elasticity close to unity.
Subjects: 
Fathers
parental leave
child leave
JEL: 
J13
J22
J45
J48
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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