TY  - JOUR
AU  - Baker,Michael
AU  - Milligan,Kevin S.
TI  - Maternal employment, breastfeeding, and health: Evidence from maternity leave mandates
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13188
PY  - 2007
Y2  - June 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13188
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13188.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Michael Baker
Department of Economics
University of Toronto
150 St. George Street
Toronto, ON M5S 3G7
CANADA
Tel: 416/978-4138
Fax: 416/978-6713
E-Mail: baker@chass.utoronto.ca

Kevin S. Milligan
Department of Economics
University of British Columbia
#997-1873 East Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
CANADA
Tel: 604/822-6747
Fax: 604/822-5915
E-Mail: kevin.milligan@ubc.ca
AB  - Public health agencies around the world have renewed efforts to increase the incidence and duration of breastfeeding. Maternity leave mandates present an economic policy that could help achieve these goals. We study their efficacy focusing on a significant increase in maternity leave mandates in Canada. We find very large increases in mothers' time away from work post-birth and in the attainment of critical breastfeeding duration thresholds. However, we find little impact on the self-reported indicators of maternal and child health captured in our data.
ER  -