November 2008

IZA DP No. 3820: The Effects of Maternity Leave Extension on Training for Young Women

published as 'The Effects of Parental Leave on Training for Young Women' in: Journal of Population Economics, 2011, 24 (2), 731-760

Using three representative individual-level datasets for West Germany, we estimate the effect of the extension of maternity leave from 18 to 36 months on young women's participation in job-related training. Specifically, we employ difference-indifferences identification strategies using control groups of older women and older women together with young and older men. We find that maternity leave extension negatively affects job-related training for young women, even if they do not have children, especially when the focus is on employer-arranged training. There is tentative evidence that young women partly compensated for this reduction in employer-arranged training by increasing training on their own initiative.