Working Paper: NBER ID: w25784
Authors: Jessica E. Pac; Ann P. Bartel; Christopher J. Ruhm; Jane Waldfogel
Abstract: This paper evaluates the effect of Paid Family Leave (PFL) on breastfeeding, which we identify using California’s enactment of a 2004 PFL policy that ensured mothers up to six weeks of leave at a 55 percent wage replacement rate. We employ synthetic control models for a large, representative sample of over 270,000 children born between 2000 and 2012 drawn from the restricted-use versions of the 2003 – 2014 National Immunization Surveys. Our estimates indicate that PFL increases the overall duration of breastfeeding by nearly 18 days, and the likelihood of breastfeeding for at least six months by 5 percentage points. We find substantially larger effects of PFL on breastfeeding duration for some disadvantaged mothers.
Keywords: Paid Family Leave; Breastfeeding; Child Health
JEL Codes: I12; I18; J13; J18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| California's paid family leave program (J22) | overall duration of breastfeeding (C41) |
| California's paid family leave program (J22) | likelihood of breastfeeding for at least six months (J13) |
| California's paid family leave program (J22) | disparities in breastfeeding duration (J79) |
| PFL policy (G52) | average duration of breastfeeding (C41) |
| PFL policy (G52) | probability of initiating breastfeeding (J13) |