Abstract: This analysis examined differences in maternity leave policy in relation to well-being outcomes for birth-cohorts in United States, Germany, Spain, Finland, and Great Britain. This study focused on the influence of maternity leave policies on the self-reported dependent variables of happiness and life-satisfaction as instruments for societal wellbeing. The independent variables included number of weeks of paid leave for the mother before birth, number of weeks of paid leave for parenting after birth, as well as percentage of pay received. Control variables included scale of income, health, education, birth year, survey year, country, and gender. The study used birth-cohorts for individuals born between 1960 and 1989 that participated in the World Values Survey. The study found no correlation between weeks of maternity leave and happiness or life-satisfaction. There was also no significant correlation between weeks of paid maternity leave after birth and happiness or life-satisfaction. There was a significant finding that weeks of full pay before birth are negatively correlated with life-satisfaction outcomes.
Keywords: maternity leave policy, happiness, life-satisfaction, fixed effect analysis.
Title: Do Maternity Leave Variables Influence Happiness or Life-Satisfaction?
Author: Emily D. Wassell
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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