Does Maternity Leave Impact Women’s Health? Evidence from Germany

Nicole Guertzgen, Centre of European Economic Research (ZEW)
Karsten Hank, University of Cologne

Exploiting unique administrative data from the German Pension Register and Federal Employment Agency, we estimate the net causal effect of gradual increases in maternity leave duration (from initially eight weeks in 1965 to 36 months in 1992) on mothers’ health over a period of up to 30 years after their last maternity leave uptake. Adopting a straightforward regression discontinuity approach, we compare the health of gainfully employed mothers who gave birth before and after the respective changes in maternity leave legislations. Health is identified by the number and length of spells of long-term sickness absence, which might be induced by physical and/or mental health problems. Preliminary analyses, focusing on early maternity leave reforms, suggest significant changes in mothers’ return-to-work behaviors. The role of early maternity leave extensions in maternal health is less clear, though, and seems to be mediated by changes in women’s labor market outcomes.