Paid maternity leave and breastfeeding practice before and after California's implementation of the nation's first paid family leave program

Rui Huang; Muzhe Yang

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2013.12.009

Paid maternity leave and breastfeeding practice before and after California's implementation of the nation's first paid family leave program

Econ Hum Biol. 2015 Jan:16:45-59. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2013.12.009. Epub 2014 Jan 22.

Authors

Rui Huang¹, Muzhe Yang²

Affiliations

¹ Bates White LLC, 1300 Eye Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20005, United States. Electronic address: rui.huang@bateswhite.com.
² Department of Economics, Rauch Business Center, Lehigh University, 621 Taylor Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015, United States. Electronic address: muzheyang@lehigh.edu.

PMID: 24508006
DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2013.12.009

Abstract

California was the first state in the United States to implement a paid family leave (PFL) program in 2004. We use data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study to examine the changes in breastfeeding practices in California relative to other states before and after the implementation of PFL. We find an increase of 3-5 percentage points for exclusive breastfeeding and an increase of 10-20 percentage points for breastfeeding at several important markers of early infancy. Our study supports the recommendation of the Surgeon General to establish paid leave policies as a strategy for promoting breastfeeding.

Keywords: Breastfeeding; California's paid family leave; Maternity leave.

MeSH terms

Adult
Breast Feeding / statistics & numerical data*
California
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Mothers*
Parental Leave / legislation & jurisprudence*
Parental Leave / statistics & numerical data*
Salaries and Fringe Benefits
Socioeconomic Factors
Women, Working / statistics & numerical data*