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Author: Manuel, Tiffany A.
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Manuel, Tiffany A. |
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Giving Mercenaries a Chance to be Missionaries: Making the Case for Universal Paid Family Leave in the United States Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2004. DAI-A 65/07, p. 2788, Jan 2005 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): Benefits; Labor Economics; Leave, Family or Maternity/Paternity; Poverty; Welfare; Women's Studies The U.S. Congress and more than twenty state legislatures have recently considered legislation that would provide wage replacement for workers taking various forms of unpaid family leave from their jobs. In 2002, California became the first state to adopt such legislation. This dissertation seeks to present a coherent theoretical, empirical, and polemical case for expanding wage replaced family leave in the United States. More specifically, this dissertation explores the need, political feasibility, and challenges involved in extending family leave policies as well as critically evaluates the historical evolution of leave policies, the current policy environment, and the overall impact of existing leave policies (particularly on new mothers). Particular attention is given to the allocation and distribution effects of current family leave policies and how changing existing government policies on this issue might alter those effects. As a part of evaluating the distribution effects of existing policies, I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate the opportunity costs of lost annual earnings to three types of new mothers taking maternity leave: paid leavers, unpaid leavers, and women who quit their jobs when they became pregnant. Results indicate that mothers who had access to wage replacement during their maternity leave (paid leavers) fared much better than those who did not and this was true for almost a decade following the birth. Results also show that women who quit their jobs when they became pregnant were more likely to experience poverty than unpaid or paid leavers. I conclude that policymakers should carefully consider wage replacement proposals because of the potential to: (1) mitigate existing inequalities across families and occupational categories; (2) provide work supports to families no longer receiving support from other social welfare programs; and, (3) distribute the costs and benefits of family leave-taking more effic iently by extending these opportunities to those who most need them. |
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Bibliography Citation
Manuel, Tiffany A. Giving Mercenaries a Chance to be Missionaries: Making the Case for Universal Paid Family Leave in the United States. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2004. DAI-A 65/07, p. 2788, Jan 2005. |