- Integration of first and second-generation migrants in Finland (with Milla Nyyssölä and Tuomo Suhonen)
- Effects of paternity leave reforms on gender inequality in the labor market (with Terhi Ravaska)
Can public policies targeted to men reduce gender inequality in the labor market?
Using Finnish administrative data in a regression discontinuity framework, we investigate the causal relationship between 4 paternity leave reforms and the labor
market outcomes of fathers and mothers. The policy design of the reforms varied, by either making the use of paternity leave days more flexible, by extending the
number of days (going from 18 days to 42 days) or by increasing the replacement rate of benefits. We investigate if these policies were successful by computing short and long run effects of the reform on parents’ employment rate, earnings, and how earnings are distributed within the household.
Our findings suggest that these types of policies are not enough to reduce gender disparities in the labor market, while some evidence for short-time effects are found for mothers’ employment after 2010.
- Paternity leave expansions and family structure
Parental and paternity leave policies have been used in developed countries to promote gender equality and curb the child penalty. However, these policies had a direct impact on how housework and childcare is organized within the household. This article uses Finnish registry and social security data in a regression discontinuity setting to investigate if paternity leave expansions can affect union stability and future fertility. The Child’s due date is used as a running variable, since it is not subject to precise manipulation by parents. The paternity leave reforms from 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2010 were analyzed. Each reform made difference changes regarding leave entitlement expansion, flexibility, and benefit replacement rate. Results suggest flexibility is important for paternity leave taking. Furthermore, these policies had no significant impact on union stability. However, the 2001 reform, that affected birth related paternity leave flexibility, decreased the spacing between birth for women under 30. While, the 2007 reform, that increased the benefit replacement rate and the independent leave flexibility, increased the spacing between birth for the same age group.