Family Policy and After-Birth Employment Among New Mothers – A Comparison of Finland, Norway and Sweden |
| |
Authors: | Marit Rønsen Marianne Sundström |
| |
Institution: | (1) Division of Social and Demographic Research, Statistics Norway, P.O.Box 8131 Dep, N-0033 Oslo, Norway;(2) Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden |
| |
Abstract: | This article compares the employmentpatterns of women after first and second birthin Finland, Norway and Sweden during 1972–1992,focusing on the impact of parental leave andchildcare programs on the transitions tofull-time and part-time work. The resultsunanimously point to the great importance ofthe programs. Women who are entitled to a paidleave have a much higher overall employmententry rate during the first three yearsfollowing birth than non-eligible women.But since mothers tend to use their fullentitlement, the higher entry rates are largelyconcentrated to the period after leave expiry,except in Sweden where entitled mothers havehigher entry rates also during the leaveperiod. This is probably a result of thegreater flexibility of the Swedish program. Inall countries, leave extensions delay thereturn to work among entitled mothers andreduce their excess entry rate. Moreover, theFinnish home-care allowance system is found toreduce employment entry. On the whole, thissuggests that very long leave entitlements andchild-minding benefit programs could havenegative consequences for women's career andearnings potentials and may preserve an unequaldivision of labour in the family. |
| |
Keywords: | female labour supply maternity/parental leave childcare childbirth hazard rate model |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|