The determinants of time off work after childbirth

Relatively little is known about the role that leave policies-family, paren tal, or maternity-leave policies-play in facilitating time off work after c hildbirth. Yet time off is a critical element of leave policies, as it faci litates the mother's recovery from childbirth and promotes maternal-infant attachment. Using data from Minnesota, the state with the highest rate of f emale labor force participation, we examine the extent to which policies, r elative to personal, job, and workplace characteristics, determine the dura tion of women's childbirth-related leaves from work. A random sample of wom en identified from vital statistics records is used to estimate the relatio nship between leave policies and time off work after childbirth. Of our sam ple 85 percent had access to some paid leave benefits, although only 46 per cent had paid maternity leave benefits. The difference in duration of leave between women with and without paid leave policies was approximately four weeks, a substantial difference for most women and their infants. Paid leav e policies and spousal earnings as primary determinants of maternal time of f work, suggest problems in the use of unpaid leave for economically vulner able women.