Does the Length of Maternity Leave Affect Maternal Health? / Pinka Chatterji, Sara Markowitz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chatterji, Pinka.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Markowitz, Sara.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w10206.

NBER working paper series no. w10206

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2004.

Summary:

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of the length of maternity leave on maternal health in a sample of working mothers. Two measures of depression and a measure of overall health are used to represent maternal health. Ordinary Least Squares models provide baseline estimates, and instrumental variables models account for the potential endogeneity of the return-to-work decision. The findings suggest that returning to work later may reduce the number or frequency of depressive symptoms, but the length of time before returning to work is not associated with a lower probability of being a likely case of clinical depression. Similarly, there is little evidence that longer maternity leave impacts physical and mental health as measured by frequent outpatient visits during the first six months after childbirth.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2004.