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Changes in Women’s Wages after Parental Leave
Ondrich, Jan | Spiess, C. Katharina | Yang, Qing
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 123 (2003), Iss. 1 : pp. 125–137
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Ondrich, Jan
Spiess, C. Katharina
Yang, Qing
Abstract
In 1986 German parental leave and benefit policy was expanded by extending the potential duration of leave from six to ten months and paying maternity benefits to all new mothers. The potential duration has increased four times since 1986 and stood at three years in 1992. This study uses differenced log-wage regressions to examine the effect of taking maternity leave on wage growth for two 5-year periods, 1984–1989 and 1989–1994. Taking leave negatively affected wage growth in both periods. Estimates imply that each month of maternity leave reduced wage growth by 1.5 percent over five years.