2022/09/13 by Julia Hatamyar, Hatamyar, Julia
Medicine · #Breastfeeding Practices and Influences #FOS: Economics and business #General Economics (econ.GN)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2209.05916
openalex publication_date 2022/09/13 · openalex created_date 2022/09/16 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This paper studies the effects of legislation mandating the provision of workplace breastfeeding amenities on the labor force participation of women in the United States. Using both the American Community Survey and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, in a staggered difference-in-differences framework, I find evidence that workplace breastfeeding legislation significantly increases the likelihood of female labor force participation (FLFP) across both datasets and multiple specifications, by at least 1.5 percentage points. The timing and magnitude of the post-law increases in FLFP differ across the two datasets. I bolster the analyses using the CDC's Infant Feeding Practices Survey and the Childhood and Adoption Supplement to the PSID, which further suggest an influence of the laws on breastfeeding women. Heterogeneity analysis indicates the presence of substantial treatment effect heterogeneity across subgroups, but the findings are specific to the separate datasets. Across both datasets, the legislation appears to be more effective in states where average pre-law FLFP was comparatively low. I also find evidence of a negative spillover effect, whereby women without children and women with older children may have reduced their LFP in response to the legislation.