How Do Longer Parental Leaves Affect Women’s Workplace Tasks? Evidence from Germany

This study examines how the radical extension of the period of parental leave, from eighteen to thirty-six months, that occurred in Germany in 1992 affected the nature of tasks women performed in their workplaces. The results of the analysis – which used a difference-in-differences method – suggests that this reform had a significant impact on the type of tasks carried out at work by women in the former West Germany. The study finds that after the reform was introduced, the women affected by it performed roles involving significantly less creative and more codifiable tasks than they had done previously. This analysis adds a new dimension to the discussion of the impact of maternity leave legislation on labor market outcomes.