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Causal Effects of Paternity Leave on Children and Parents

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Reserving a share of the parental leave period for fathers is considered necessary in order to induce fathers to take leave, and to increase men's participation in child‐rearing. We investigate how a parental leave reform directed towards fathers affected leave‐taking, and, in turn, children's and parents' long‐term outcomes. A paternal leave quota greatly increases the share of men taking paternity leave. We find evidence that children's school performance improves as a result, particularly in families where the father has higher education than the mother. We find no evidence that paternity leave counters the traditional allocation of parents' labor supply.

Source: Scandinavian Journal of Economics

DOI: 10.1111/sjoe.12113

Authors: Sara Cools, Jon H. Fiva, Lars J. Kirkebøen

Institutions: BI Norwegian Business School, Statistics Norway

Language: English

Topic: Work-Family Balance Challenges

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Universitetet i Oslo, Norges Forskningsråd

Award: G3611268363