This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A generous parental leave reform was introduced in Estonia in 2004. This increased the likelihood of a second or third child being born into the family and also shortened the interval between births, according to Sanan Abdullayev's doctoral thesis, defended at Tallinn University.
At the same time, taking shared parental leave did not necessarily mean that the father took time off work and assumed primary responsibility for the children while receiving the benefit. Prior to the 2004 parental leave reform, a child's caregiver could take a long period of parental leave, but childcare allowances were paid at the same low rates to everyone. The reform shortened the period over which the benefit is paid, but linked the amount of the benefit to the parent's previous income.
Thus, the benefit generally began to compensate for the previous earnings of the parent staying at home with the child. Parents who had their next child within 30 months of the birth of their previous child were able to retain the rate of benefit they had been receiving prior to the birth of their previous child. Abdullayev, a recent Ph.D. graduate from the School of Governance, Law and Society, used data from Estonian national registers to investigate how the 2004 reform affected families.
Abdullayev's doctoral thesis is the first study to use composite models to analyze the impact of family policy measures. As a result, it is now possible for the first time to distinguish whether family policy primarily influenced the likelihood of having a subsequent child or the interval between births. Based on an analysis of data on the entire permanent population of childbearing age in Estonia, the study found that the reform increased the likelihood of having a second and third child and also shortened the interval between births.
The impact was strongest among mothers with a higher education qualification, for whom the benefit compensated for the majority of their previous income. At the same time, the likelihood of having another child also increased among mothers with lower levels of education and income. As a result of the reform, parents who had previously been unemployed began to receive benefits close to the minimum wage.
Consequently, the reform provided some parents with additional household income. The doctoral thesis also examined the use of shared parental leave. Parents' income was the most important factor in predicting which parent would make use of the benefit.
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