TY  - JOUR
AU  - Han,Wen-Jui
AU  - Ruhm,Christopher
AU  - Waldfogel,Jane
AU  - Washbrook,Elizabeth
TI  - Public Policies and Women's Employment after Childbearing
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14660
PY  - 2009
Y2  - January 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14660
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14660.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Wen-Jui Han
Columbia University
School of Social Work
1255 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027
E-Mail: wh41@columbia.edu

Christopher J. Ruhm
Frank Batten School of
Leadership and Public Policy
University of Virginia
235 McCormick Rd.
P.O. Box 400893
Charlottesville, VA 22904-40893
Tel: 434-243-3729
E-Mail: ruhm@virginia.edu

Jane Waldfogel
Columbia University
School of Social Work
1255 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY  10027
E-Mail: jw205@columbia.edu

Elizabeth Washbrook
University of Bristol
Bristol Institute of Public Affairs
2 Priory Road
Bristol, BS8 1TX
E-Mail: liz.washbrook@bristol.ac.uk
AB  - This paper examines how the public policy environment in the United States affects work by new mothers following childbirth. We examine four types of policies that vary across states and affect the budget constraint in different ways.  The policy environment has important effects, particularly for less advantaged mothers.  There is a potential conflict between policies aiming to increase maternal employment and those maximizing the choices available to families with young children.  However, this tradeoff is not absolute since some choice-increasing policies (generous child care subsidies and state parental leave laws) foster both choice and higher levels of employment.
ER  -