Paid Parental Leave Laws in the United States: Does Short-Duration Leave Affect Women's Labor-Force Attachment?

摘要

My analysis suggests that US-style short-duration paid leave has the potential to increase labor-force attachment in the months surrounding a birth, particularly for less-educated women who have little access to paid leave in the absence of a mandate. The bump in labor-force participation around birth due to the new California and New Jersey laws implies that brief labor-market separations are being replaced with time spent on job-protected leave and less time spent searching for new employment after a birth. Understanding whether this increased attachment is with the pre-birth employer and whether there are longer-term impacts on earnings requires further study and as well as the passage of time.