%0 Report
        %A Ahammer, Alexander
%A Glogowsky, Ulrich
%A Halla, Martin
%A Hener, Timo
        %T The Parenthood Penalty in Mental Health: Evidence from Austria and Denmark
        %D 2023
        %8 2023 Sep
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 16459
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp16459
        %X Using Austrian and Danish administrative data, we examine the impacts of parenthood on mental health. Parenthood imposes a greater mental health burden on mothers than on fathers. It creates a long-run gender gap in antidepressant prescriptions of about 93.2% (Austria) and 64.8% (Denmark). These parenthood penalties in mental health are unlikely to reflect differential help-seeking behavior across the sexes or postpartum depression. Instead, they are related to mothers' higher investments in childcare: Mothers who take extended maternity leave in quasi-experimental settings are more likely to face mental health problems.
        %K gender equality
%K fertility
%K parenthood
%K motherhood
%K mental health
%K parental leave