Maternity and labor markets : impact of legislation in Colombia

Abstract

Our research seeks to determine the impact on female labor outcomes of the amendment on the Colombian labor law in which maternity leave was extended from 12 to 14 weeks (through Law 1468 of July 2011). To identify this impact we compare labor market outcomes of two groups of women with differences in their fertility rates. We find evidence that as a result of the extension of the maternity leave period, women in the high-fertility age group have experienced an increase in inactivity rates, informality, and self-employment. We argue that a redesign of maternity protection policy is due, one through which the economic and social costs of bearing children are shared by both parents and which may generate social change regarding the importance of paternal care. JEL classification: J08, J2, J3, J7, K31

Promoting Female Labor Force Participation

“…This could drive down female employment rates and in turn discourage female labor force participation. Comparing women of childbearing age to women past peak fertility in Colombia before and after enactment of legislation which extended maternity leave by two weeks, Bustamante et al (2015) find that the legislation led to a decrease of 0.7 percentage points in female labor force participation among women of childbearing age who have more than a high school education, and a decrease of 0.9 percentage points for women with less than a high school education10. However, the study also finds that women of childbearing age are more likely to be self-employed or working in the informal sector after the policy change.…”

The path to gender equality in Colombia: Are we there yet?

“…33 This Law was very important for Colombian women. As Ramírez, Tribín and Vargas (2015) pointed out, Colombia was one of the first countries that accepted the International Labor Office (ILO) recommendations (Convention No. 3, 1919) on the labor rights of pregnant women ( Table 7).…”

“…Despite Research for Colombia has shown evidence that women suffer the effect of discrimination in access and permanence in formal employment due to pregnancy and care-work responsibilities (Ramírez-Bustamante, 2019). Women of reproductive age are less likely to be hired in formal employment due to the pregnancy employment protection, which more often leads to unemployment, inactivity, or transition to informality where no contributions are made (Ramírez-Bustamante, Tribín-Uribe and Vargas, 2015). For example, according to the Demography and Health Survey (2015), it is still a common practice to ask prospective candidates in the labor market for a pregnancy test.…”

“…Also, this Law stated that an employee or worker who had an abortion or preterm labor in the course of pregnancy was entitled to two weeks of incapacity for work. For an analysis of this Law seeRamírez-Bustamante, Tribín-Uribe and Vargas (2015).34 Law 129 of 1931 regulated the Colombian labor market, working hours and potentially dangerous work.…”

La maternidad y el empleo formal en Colombia

“…A esto se suman algunos reveces, que habrían podido tener los cambios recientes en la forma de regular la maternidad. Cada vez que se ha intentado proteger el empleo de las madres o de extender los beneficios de las licencias de maternidad, alguna evidencia indica que se terminan deteriorando las condiciones laborales de las mujeres en edades fértiles cuando se comparan con otras de más edad (Molinos Iragorri, 2012;Ramírez Bustamante, Tribin Uribe y Vargas, 2015).…”