Making Leave Easier: Better Compensation and Daddy Only Entitlements

Ankita Patnaik, Cornell University

This paper investigates a policy reform to Parental Leave in Quebec in 2006 that increased the generosity of leave entitlements and instituted a ‘daddy’ quota, and its impact on fathers’ participation rates, and mothers’ participation rates, leave duration, exit rates and job continuity. I also explore how the impact may have differed amongst sub-groups: low-income, poorly educated or first-time mothers. Using data from the Employment Insurance Coverage Survey and a difference-in-difference analysis, I find that the reform was associated with a striking rise in fathers’ participation: an increase of 55-60 percentage points in the probability of making a claim. I find a smaller increase of 13-16 percentage points in the claim rates of mothers but find that on average the duration of their leave increased, especially for first-time mothers. I find no change in exit rates but an increase of nearly 4 percentage points in the probability of returning to the pre-birth employer.