Family Leave Can Hurt Women

See Can Family Leave Policies Be Too Generous? It Seems So by Claire Cain Miller, NY Times 8-10-14. Excerpts:

"paid leaves can also hold back women. Researchers are finding that even as family leave boosts labor force participation by women, it can have negative effects on their job opportunities.

A well-regarded study of 22 countries by two Cornell University economists found that European countries’ family-friendly policies made it possible for more women to work — but that European women are more likely to be in part-time jobs that do not lead to positions of power. As a result, women in Europe are half as likely as men to be managers, while in the United States women are just as likely to be managers.

Long leaves and part-time work protections might encourage women to scale back at work or stretch their leaves longer than they otherwise would have"

"Employers, meanwhile, might “engage in statistical discrimination against women as a group, anticipating that women will take advantage of such opportunities,” they wrote. Long absences are expensive for companies, particularly for jobs that build on training and promotions, and employers are understandably hesitant to hire people who might leave for a year at a time.

“It gives them good reason to think twice about hiring someone who might take the leave,” said Claudia Goldin, an economist at Harvard University"

" “No one is saying they dislike women who are capable of having children. But they might dislike additional labor costs.”"

"“In Europe the leaves may be so long as to have negative effects on women’s labor market outcomes.”"