Who needs (or doesn't) three years of parental leave?
Abstract
In this work we study the actual length of parental leave in Russia and the factors influencing it. In our estimates we use a survival analysis model applied to 20-year panel data from the nationally representative survey of the HSE RLMS.
According to the results, shorter actual leave is more often observed among women who have better connections with the labor market (a higher level of education, work experience) and wider external and intra-family resources for childcare. On the contrary, older age, having another child and living in areas with lower mean wages discourage young mothers from returning to work. We also show that the probability of an earlier return to work after the birth of a first child in the 2010s decreased significantly compared to the 2000s, which we explain by the introduction of the maternity capital program and increased state support of families with children, which together with the stagnation of labor incomes could reduce the interest of families in an earlier return of young mothers to work.
International comparisons show that Russia belongs to the group of countries with the longest paid maternity and parental leave; at the same time, it is only in the 4th quintile in terms of the labor force participation rate among women aged 15-64. Taking these results into account, we suggest some improvements to the parental leave policy. Among other possibilities, we suggest considering flexible leave (reducing duration while keeping the same total payment) and discontinuous leave (giving parents the right to go back on unpaid leave if necessary), as well as the introduction of non-transferable paternity leave.
Downloads
References
Арженовский С.В., Артамонова Д.В. (2007). Оценка потерь в зарплате женщин с детьми. Прикладная эконометрика, 3(7), 66-79.
Бобков В.Н., Квачев В.Г., Локтюхина Н.В., Риччери М. (2017). Критерии, вероятность и степень неустойчивости занятости с учетом особенностей российского рынка труда. Экономика региона, 3, 672–683. https://doi.org/10.17059/2017-3-3
Ермолина А.А., Рохмина Е.Б., Васильева Ю.М., Трач Т.М. (2016). Рождение ребенка как фактор доходной обеспеченности женщин. Насколько велик в России" штраф за материнство"? Демоскоп Weekly, 701-702, 35-40. http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2016/0701/analit02.php (данные загружены 22.07.2022).
Капелюшников Р.И. (2022). Анатомия коронакризиса через призму рынка труда. Вопросы экономики, 2, 33-68. https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2022-2-33-68
Колесник Д.П., Пестова А.А., Донина А.Г. (2021). Что (же) делать с занятостью женщин с детьми в России? Роль дошкольных образовательных учреждений. Вопросы экономики, 12, 94-117. https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2021-12-94-117
Ниворожкина Л.И., Ниворожкин А.М., Арженовский С.В. (2008). «Цена» материнства: эконометрическая оценка. Вестник Таганрогского института управления и экономики, 1, 3-20.
Ощепков А.Ю. (2020). Отцы и дети: «премия» за отцовство на российском рынке труда. Экономический журнал Высшей школы экономики, 24(2), 157-190. https://doi.org/10.17323/1813-8691-2020-24-2-157-190
Пайе А., Синявская О. (2010). Занятость женщин во Франции и России: роль детей и гендерных установок. В С.В. Захаров, Л.М. Прокофьева, О.В. Синявская (Ред.), Эволюция семьи в Европе: Восток-Запад (сс. 304–352). М.: НИСП.
Центр социально-трудовых прав (2014). Дискриминация, пособия и очереди в детские сады — главные проблемы работающих женщин. https://trudprava.ru/expert/analytics/genderanalyt/1049 (дата обращения: 03.08.2122)
Aisenbrey S., Evertsson M., Grunow D. (2009). Is there a career penalty for mothers' time out? A comparison of Germany, Sweden and the United States. Social Forces, 88(2), 573-605. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.0.0252
Andersson G. (2008). Selectivity in higher-order childbearing in Sweden. Finnish Yearbook of Population Research, 33-40. https://doi.org/10.23979/fypr.45033
Bergemann A., Riphahn R.T. (2010). Female labour supply and parental leave benefits–the causal effect of paying higher transfers for a shorter period of time. Applied Economics Letters, 18(1), 17-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504850903425173
Biryukova S., Makarentseva A. (2017). Estimates of the Motherhood Penalty in Russia. Population and Economics, 1(1), 50-70. https://doi.org/10.3897/popecon.1.e36032
Bygren M., Duvander A.Z. (2006). Parents’ workplace situation and fathers’ parental leave use. Journal of marriage and family, 68(2), 363-372. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00258.x
Chirkova S. (2019). The impact of parental leave policy on child-rearing and employment behavior: The case of Germany. IZA Journal of Labor Policy, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2019-0007
Cox D.R. (1972). Regression models and life-tables. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 34(2), 187-202. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2517-6161.1972.tb00899.x
Crompton R. (2006). Employment and the family: The reconfiguration of work and family life in contemporary societies. Cambridge University Press.
Evertsson M., Duvander A.Z. (2011). Parental Leave—Possibility or Trap? Does Family Leave Length Effect Swedish Women's Labour Market Opportunities? European Sociological Review, 27(4), 435-450. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcq018
Grunow D., Aisenbrey S. (2016). Economic instability and mothers’ employment: A comparison of Germany and the US. Advances in Life Course Research, 29, 5-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2015.09.005
Hobson B., Duvander A.Z., Halldén K. (2006). Men and women’s agency and capabilities to create a worklife balance in diverse and changing institutional contexts. Children, changing families and welfare states, 13, 267-296. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781847204363.00024
Joseph O., Pailhé A., Recotillet I., Solaz A. (2013). The economic impact of taking short parental leave: Evaluation of a French reform. Labour Economics, 25, 63-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2013.04.012
Kalabikhina I. (2017). Parental responsibilities and discrimination in employment. Population and Economics, 1(1), 89-116. https://doi.org/10.3897/popecon.1.e36034
Klein J.P., Moeschberger M.L. (2003). Survival analysis: techniques for censored and truncated data (Vol. 1230). New York: Springer.
Kluve J., Tamm M. (2013). Parental leave regulations, mothers’ labor force attachment and fathers’ childcare involvement: evidence from a natural experiment. Journal of Population Economics, 26(3), 983-1005. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-012-0404-1
Kuhlenkasper T., Kauermann G. (2010). Duration of maternity leave in Germany: A case study of nonparametric hazard models and penalized splines. Labour Economics, 17(3), 466-473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2009.12.001
Lappegard T. (2008). Changing the gender balance in caring: Fatherhood and the division of parental leave in Norway. Population research and policy review, 27(2), 139-159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-007-9057-2
Lapuerta I., Baizán P., González M.J. (2011). Individual and institutional constraints: An analysis of parental leave use and duration in Spain. Population Research and Policy Review, 30(2), 185-210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-010-9185-y
Lundberg S., Pollak R.A. (1993). Separate spheres bargaining and the marriage market. Journal of political Economy, 101(6), 988-1010. https://doi.org/10.1086/261912
Macran S., Joshi H., Dex S. (1996). Employment after childbearing: a survival analysis. Work, Employment and Society, 10(2), 273-296. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0950017096102004
Makay Z. (2017). Parental Leave and Career Interruption of Mothers in France and Hungary. In: Régnier-Loilier A. (Ed.), A Longitudinal Approach to Family Trajectories in France. INED Population Studies, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56001-4_9
Morosow K., Jalovaara M. (2019). Disadvantaging single parents? Effects of long family leaves on single and partnered mothers’ labour market outcomes in Finland. Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1341229
Pettit B., Hook J. (2005). The structure of women's employment in comparative perspective. Social Forces, 84(2), 779-801. https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.2006.0029
Sundström M., Duvander A.Z. (2002). Gender division of childcare and the sharing of parental leave among new parents in Sweden. European Sociological Review, 18(4), 433-447. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/18.4.433
Thévenon O., Solaz A. (2013). Labour Market Effects of Parental Leave Policies in OECD Countries. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, 141, 1-68. https://doi.org/10.1787/5k8xb6hw1wjf-en
Zhou M., Kan M.Y. (2019). A new family equilibrium? Changing dynamics between the gender division of labor and fertility in Great Britain, 1991–2017. Demographic Research, 40, 1455-1500. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2019.40.50
