Do we want daddy to stay at home?: paternity leave and child health

Abstract

Maternal time investment is widely acknowledged as a critical determinant of child health, but fathers’ time investment is less understood. This paper identifies the effect of paternity leave on child health. To do so, it exploits the sequential implementation of Spanish paternity leave within a difference-in-discontinuities (RD-DD) design using health records. Results indicate almost 8% fewer health diagnoses and 9% fewer infections, especially respiratory infections. Eligibility for one month and three months paternity leave led to almost one and a half fewer diagnoses and half an infection within the first two years of life. The number of diagnoses decreases significantly for children under one year of age and among children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. A shift from formal to parental care comes up as a potential mechanism since it reduces exposure to environments where infections are likely to be spread. These findings provide policy insights into how family policies promoting parental involvement, particularly fathers’ involvement, can influence children’s environments and health.