%0 Report
        %A Brenøe, Anne Ardila
%A Krenk, Ursa
%A Steinhauer, Andreas
%A Zweimüller, Josef
        %T How Do Firms Respond to Parental Leave Absences?
        %D 2025
        %8 2025 Apr
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 17845
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp17845
        %X How do firms adjust their labor demand when a female employee takes temporary leave after childbirth? Using Austrian administrative data, we compare firms with and without a birth event and exploit policy reforms that significantly altered leave durations. We find that (i) firms adjust hiring, employment, and wages around leave periods, but these effects fade quickly; (ii) adjustments differ sharply by gender, reflecting strong gender segregation within firms; (iii) longer leave entitlements extend actual leave absences but have only short-term effects; and (iv) there is no impact on firm closure up to five years after birth.
        %K absence duration
%K gender
%K labor demand
%K labor supply
%K firms
%K family leave