Maternity benefits and marital stability after birth: evidence from the Soviet Baltic republics

ENCan a policy intervention in the stressful first year after a birth affect marital stability? We examine this question using a large expansion in maternity benefits in 1982 in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The program provided partially paid leave until the child’s first birthday and included a small cash payment at birth. We use individual-level panel data and compare the Baltics with similar East European countries using a difference-in-differences framework. Maternity benefits decrease divorce within the first year after birth. This decrease persists for at least a decade, indicating that couples avoided divorce altogether rather than simply delaying it. While mothers extended their leave by several months, they returned to full-time work afterwards, consistent with egalitarian gender norms in the labor market. Keywords: maternity benefits; mothers; marital stability; divorce; marital dissolution. [From the publication]

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