This paper investigates whether daddy quotas – non-transferable paternity leave policies – mitigate motherhood penalties women face in the labour market. Using the introduction of a daddy quota in Quebec, Canada as a natural experiment, we employ labour force survey data to conduct a difference-in-difference estimation of the policy’s impact on a range of mothers’ career outcomes, using mothers in the neighbouring province of Ontario as a comparison group. The results suggest Quebec mothers exposed to the policy are 5 percentage points more likely to participate in the labour force and to work full time, 5 percentage points less likely to work part time, and 4 percentage points less likely to be unemployed than they would have been in the absence of the policy. Our results are robust to an alternative semi-parametric difference-in-difference methodology and to a battery of placebo and sensitivity tests. However, we find that the policy’s effects are largest 2 to 3 years post-reform, reducing in size and significance thereafter, raising questions about the durability of such effects.
AndersenS.H. (2018) ‘Paternity Leave and the Motherhood Penalty: New Causal Evidence’, Journal of Marriage and Family80(5): 1125–1143.
2.
BélandD.LecoursA. (2006) ‘Sub-State Nationalism and the Welfare State: Québec and Canadian Federalism’, Nations and Nationalism12(1): 77–96.
3.
BernardP.Saint-ArnaudS. (2004) ‘More of the Same? The Position of the Four Largest Canadian Provinces in the World of Welfare Regimes’, Canadian Journal of Sociology29(2): 209–239.
4.
BeckerG. (1985). ‘Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor’, Journal of Labor Economics3(1): S33–S58.
5.
BianchiS.M. (2011) ‘Family Change and Time Allocation in American families’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science638(1): 21–44.
6.
BianchiS.M.SayerL.C.MilkieM.A.RobinsonJ.P. (2012) ‘Housework: Who Did, Does or Will Do It, and How Much Does It Matter?’, Social Forces91(1): 55–63.
7.
BjornbergU. (2002) ‘Ideology and Choice between Work and Care: Swedish Family Policy for Working Parents’, Critical Social Policy22(1): 33–52.
8.
BrandthB.KvandeE. (1998) ‘Masculinity and Child Care: The Reconstruction of Fathering’, The Sociological Review46(2): 293–313.
9.
BudigM.MisraJ.BoeckmannI. (2012) ‘The Motherhood Penalty in Cross-National Perspective: The Importance of Work-Family Policies and Cultural Attitudes’, Social Politics19(2): 163–193.
10.
BuligescuB.de CrombruggheD.MenteşoǧluG.MontizaanR. (2009) ‘Panel Estimates of the Wage Penalty for Maternal Leave’, Oxford Economic Papers61(Suppl_1): i35–i55.
11.
BünningM. (2015) ‘What Happens After the “Daddy Months”? Fathers’ Involvement in Paid Work, Childcare, and Housework After Taking Parental Leave in Germany’, European Sociological Review31(6): 738–748.
12.
BygrenM.DuvanderA.Z. (2006) ‘Parents’ Workplace Situation and Fathers’ Parental Leave Use’, Journal of Marriage and Family68(2): 363–372.
13.
CoolsS.FivaJ.H.KirkeboenL.J. (2015) ‘Causal Effects of Paternity Leave on Children and Parents’, Scandinavian Journal of Economics117(3): 801–828.
14.
CorrellS.J.BenardS.PaikI. (2007) ‘Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?’, American Journal of Sociology112(5): 1297–1338.
15.
EkbergJ.ErikssonR.FriebelG. (2013) ‘Parental Leave: A Policy Evaluation of the Swedish “Daddy-Month” Reform’, Journal of Public Economics97(1): 131–143.
16.
FarréL.GonzálezL. (2019) ‘Does Paternity Leave Reduce Fertility ?’, Journal of Public Economics172: 52–66.
17.
FolbreN. (1994) Who Pays for the Kids: Gender and Structures of Constraint. London: Routledge.
18.
FortinP.GodboutL.St-CernyS. (2012) Impact of Quebec’s Universal Low Fee Childcare Program on Female Labour Force Participants, Domestic Income, and Government Budgets. Working paper No. 2012-02. Quebec: Université de Sherbrooke.
19.
FoxE.PascallG.WarrenT. (2009) ‘Work-Family Policies, Participation, and Practices: Fathers and Childcare in Europe’, Community, Work and Family12(3): 313–326.
20.
GeislerE.KreyenfeldM. (2012) How Policy Matters: Germany’s Parental Leave Benefit Reform and Fathers’ Behavior 1999–2009. Working paper 2012-021, Rostock: Max Plank Institute for Demographic Research.
21.
GornickJ.MeyersM. (2009) Gender Equality: Transforming Family Divisions of Labour. London: Verso.
22.
HaasL.HwangC.P. (2008) ‘The Impact of Taking Parental Leave on Fathers’ Participation in Childcare and Relationships with Children: Lessons from Sweden’, Community, Work and Family11(1): 85–104.
23.
HaasL.RostgaardT. (2011) ‘Fathers’ Rights to Paid Parental Leave in the Nordic Countries: Consequences for the Gendered Division of Leave’, Community, Work and Family14(2): 177–195.
24.
HarknessS.WaldfogelJ. (2003) ‘The Family Gap in Pay: Evidence from Seven Industrialized Countries’, Research in Labour Economics22: 369–413.
25.
HookJ.L. (2006) ‘Care in Context: Men’s Unpaid Work in 20 Countries 1965–2003’, American Sociological Review71(4): 639–660.
26.
HookJ.L. (2010) ‘Gender Inequality in the Welfare State: Sex Segregation in Housework, 1965–2003’, American Journal of Sociology115(5): 1480–1523.
27.
JohanssonE.-A. (2010) ‘The Effect of Own and Spousal Parental Leave on Earnings’, IFAU – Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation Working Paper4: 1–32.
28.
KluveJ.SchmitzS. (2014) Social Norms and Mothers’ Labour Market Attachment. Bochum, Germany: Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
29.
KoslowskiA.BlumS.DobrotićI.MachtA.MossP. (eds) (2019) International Review of Leave Policies and Research 2019. London: International Network on Leave Policies & Research.
30.
KotsadamA.FinseraasH. (2011) ‘The State Intervenes in the Battle of the Sexes: Causal Effects of Paternity Leave’, Social Science Research40(6): 1611–1622.
31.
Lammi-TaskulaJ. (2006) ‘Nordic Men on Parental Leave: Can the Welfare State Change Gender Relations’, In: EllingsæterALeiraA (eds) Politicising Parenthood in Scandinavia: Gender Relations in Welfare States, Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 79–99.
32.
ManningA.PetrongoloB. (2008) ‘The Part-Time pay Penalty for Women in Britain’, Economic Journal, 118(526): F28–F51.
33.
McKayL.DoucetA. (2010) ‘“Without Taking Away Her Leave”: A Canadian Case Study of Couples’ Decisions on Fathers’ Use of Paid Parental Leave’, Fathering: A Journal of Theory Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers8(3): 300–320.
34.
McKayL.MathieuS.DoucetA. (2016) ‘Parental-Leave Rich and Parental-Leave Poor: Inequality in Canadian Labour Market Based Leave Policies’, Journal of Industrial Relations58(4): 543–562.
35.
MincerJ.PolachekS. (1974) ‘Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women’, Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital82(2): 397–431.
36.
MorganK.J.ZippelK. (2003) ‘Paid to Care: The Origins and Effects of Care Leave Policies in Western Europe’, Social Politics10(1): 49–85.
37.
MorgenrothT.HeilmanM.E. (2017) ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go? Implications of Maternity Leave Choice for Perceptions of Working Mothers’, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology72: 53–56.
38.
MoyserM.MilanA. (2018) Insights on Canadian Society Fertility Rates and Labour Force Participation Among Women in Quebec and Ontario. Report 75-006-X. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.
39.
NepomnyaschyL.WaldfogelJ. (2007) ‘Paternity Leave and Fathers’ Involvement with their Young Children: Evidence from the American ECLS-B’, Community, Work and Family10(4): 427–453.
PatnaikA. (2019) ‘Reserving Time for Daddy: The Consequences of Fathers’ Quotas’, Journal of Labour Economics37(4): 1009–1059.
42.
PettitB.HookJ.L. (eds) (2009) Gendered Tradeoffs: Family, Social Policy and Eocnomic Inequality in Twenty-One Countries. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
43.
Pfau-EffingerB. (2005) ‘Welfare State Policies and the Development of Care Arrangements’, European Societies7(2): 321–347.
44.
RayR.GornickJ.C.SchmittJ. (2010) ‘Who Cares? Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality in Parental Leave Policy Designs in 21 Countries’, Journal of European Social Policy20(3): 196–216.
45.
SainsburyD. (1996) Gender Equality and the Welfare State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
46.
SaracenoC.KeckW. (2010) ‘Can We Identify Intergenerational Policy Regimes in Europe?’, European Societies12(5): 675–696.
47.
SaracenoC.KeckW. (2011) ‘Towards an Integrated Approach for the Analysis of Gender Equity in Policies Supporting Paid Work and Care Responsibilities’, Demographic Research25(11): 371–406.
48.
Service Canada (2016) Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles Chapter 12: Maternity Benefits, Service Canada, available at: goo.gl/6FSVH1 (accessed 25 March 2017).
49.
Sigle-RushtonW.WaldfogelJ. (2007) ‘Motherhood and Women’s Earnings in Anglo-American, Continental European, and Nordic Countries’, Feminist Economics13(2): 55–91.
SullivanO.ColtraneS.McannallyL.AltintasE. (2009) ‘Father-Friendly Policies and Time-Use Data in a Cross-National Context: Potential and Prospects for Future Research’, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science624(1): 234–254.
53.
TanakaS.WaldfogelJ. (2007) ‘Effects of Parental Leave and Working Hours on Fathers’ Involvement with Their Babies: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study’, Community, Work and Family10(4): 409–426.
54.
WaldfogelJ. (1998) ‘Understanding the “Family Gap” in Pay for Women with Children’, Journal of Economic Perspectives12(1): 137–156.
55.
ZhelyazkovaN. (2013) Fathers’ Use of Parental Leave. What Do We Know?. Working paper 022. Maastricht: United Nations University–Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
