Does the Length of Maternity Leave Affect Maternal Health?

@article{Chatterji2004DoesTL,
  title={Does the Length of Maternity Leave Affect Maternal Health?},
  author={Pinka Chatterji and Sara Markowitz},
  journal={NBER Working Paper Series},
  year={2004}
}
The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of the length of maternity leave on maternal health in a sample of working mothers. Two measures of depression and a measure of overall health are used to represent maternal health. Ordinary Least Squares models provide baseline estimates, and instrumental variables models account for the potential endogeneity of the return-to-work decision. The findings suggest that returning to work later may reduce the number or frequency of depressive… 
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99 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
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Background Citations
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Methods Citations
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99 Citations

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The Length of Maternity Leave and Family Health
Length of maternity leave and health of mother and child – a review
TLDR
The new policy in Switzerland extends maternity leave for a considerable number of women to 14 weeks, with this prolongation, fewer depressive symptoms and longer breastfeeding duration can be expected, while benefits regarding other health outcomes would warrant longer leaves.
CAN LONGER MATERNITY LEAVE IMPROVE MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING? EVIDENCE FROM CHILE
TLDR
The evidence suggests that longer maternity leave increases postpartum depression diagnosis mainly by increasing diagnosis as opposed to worsening mental health.
The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Maternal Health.
TLDR
The reform improved a range of maternal health outcomes, including BMI, blood pressure, pain, and mental health, and it increased health-promoting behaviors, such as exercise and not smoking, and the effects were larger for first-time and low-resource mothers and women who would have taken little unpaid leave in the absence of the reform.
Family Leave after Childbirth and the Health of New Mothers
TLDR
Examination of the association between family leave length, which includes leave taking by mothers and fathers, and behavioral and physical health outcomes among new mothers finds that longer maternity leave from work is associated with declines in depressive symptoms, a reduction in the likelihood of severe depression, and an improvement in overall maternal health.
Maternity leave and children's health outcomes in the long-term.
Family leave after childbirth and the mental health of new mothers.
TLDR
Findings suggest that post-partum health services that target mothers' mental and physical health, and its effects on infants, may be useful and suggest that longer leave after childbirth may improve the health of new mothers.
The Effect of Expanding Paid Maternity Leave on Maternal Health: Evidence From the United States Air Force & Army
TLDR
The main finding is that expanding maternity leave significantly decreased the likelihood of postpartum depression diagnosis, and evidence that expanding leave reduced mothers' pain and health care utilization is provided, although these results are somewhat sensitive to specification choice.
The long-run effect of maternity leave benefits on mental health: evidence from European countries.
TLDR
Findings suggest that a more generous maternity leave during the birth of a first child is associated with a reduced score of 0.38 points in the Euro-D depressive symptom scale in old age.
Construction and Validation of the Quality of Maternity Leave Scales (QMLS)
Maternity leave is not federally guaranteed or paid in the United States. Although there has been an increase of women in the workforce, federal maternity leave policy has not changed since the…
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References

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