Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 38 No. 1 2020

Parental Leave Benefits, Household Labor Supply, and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes

Rita Ginja^1,2; Jenny Jans³; Arizo Karimi^3,4

¹ IZA - Institute of Labor Economics · ² University of Bergen · ³ Uppsala University · ⁴ Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

Abstract

We study how parental leave benefit levels affect household labor supply, family income, and child outcomes, exploiting the speed premium (SP) in the Swedish leave system. The SP grants mothers higher benefits for a subsequent child without reestablishing eligibility through market work if two births occur within a prespecified interval. We use the spacing eligibility cutoffs in a regression discontinuity framework and find that the SP improves educational outcomes of the older child but not those of the younger. Impacts are likely driven by increased maternal time and the quality of maternal time relative to the counterfactual mode of care.

DOI

10.1086/704615

Volume

38

Issue

1

Pages

261-320

Language

en

Sources

openalex crossref

Cite

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