Does Enhancing Paid Maternity Leave Policy Help Promote Gender Equality? Evidence from 31 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Globally, women continue to have less economic decision-making power and face gender-unequal norms at work. Little is known about the impact of national public policies on norms surrounding equality. We examined the impact of extending paid maternity leave policy on decision making in the household and gender norms in the workplace, specifically whether women have sole or joint decision-making power with respect to large household purchases and whether women are perceived as having an equal right to jobs when jobs are scarce. We used difference-in-differences models to analyze the impact of increasing paid maternity leave on outcomes measured in the Demographic Health Surveys and World Values Surveys collected in 31 low- and middle-income countries. A one-month increase in the legislated duration of paid maternity leave increased the odds that women and their partners/spouses reported that women had more decision-making power by 40% (95% CI 1.14, 1.70) and 66% (95% CI 1.36, 2.03), respectively. A one-month increase in the legislated duration of paid maternity leave was associated with 41.5 percentage-point increase in the prevalence of individuals disagreeing with the statement that "when jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women." More generous maternity leave increases gender equality in economic decision making in the household and improves gender norms related to work. Future studies should examine the impact of paternity leave and non-discrimination policy, as well as other large-scale policies aiming to improve gender equality at work and at home.

Improving health with programmatic, legal, and policy approaches to reduce gender inequality and change restrictive gender norms.

Evidence that gender inequalities and restrictive norms adversely affect health is extensive; however, far less research has focused on testing solutions. We first comprehensively reviewed the peer-reviewed and grey literature for rigorously evaluated programmes that aimed to reduce gender inequality and restrictive gender norms and improve health. We identified four mutually reinforcing factors underpinning change: (1) multisectoral action, (2) multilevel, multistakeholder involvement, (3) diversified programming, and (4) social participation and empowerment. Following this review, because little research has investigated the effects of national-level law and policy reforms, we conducted original quasi-experimental studies on laws and policies related to education, work, and income, all social determinants of health in which deep gender inequalities exist. We examined whether the laws and policies significantly affected health outcomes and gender norms, and whether law-induced and policy-induced changes in gender norms mediated the health effects, in areas for which longitudinal data existed. Laws and policies that made primary education tuition-free (13 intervention countries with the law and/or policy and ten control countries without) and that provided paid maternity and parental leave (seven intervention and 15 control countries) significantly improved women's and their children's health (odds ratios [OR] of 1·16-2·10, depending on health outcome) and gender equality in household decision making (OR 1·46 for tuition-free and 1·45 for paid maternity and parental leave) as a proxy indicator of gender norms. Increased equality partially mediated the positive effects on health outcomes. We conclude by discussing examples of how improved governance can support gender-equitable laws, policies, and programmes, immediate next steps, and future research needs.

Children's academic achievement and foster care.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Poor school outcomes for children in out-of-home placement (OHP) raise concerns about the adequacy of child welfare and educational policy for this vulnerable population. We analyzed the relation between OHP and academic achievement, focusing on reading and math achievement in grades 3 through 8. METHODS: Linked administrative data were used for our analytic sample comprising 529 597 child-year observations for 222 049 children who experienced OHP or were in a comparison group. Three models were estimated: a pooled ordinary least squares regression that considered placement status and test scores net of the full set of control variables; an identical model that added the previous year's test scores as an additional control; and a final model that included child-specific fixed effects. RESULTS: Children in OHP settings had achievement test scores at least 0.6 SD below average. However, we found similar deficits across children with past, current, and future exposure to OHP and, in our preferred model, OHP (past, current, or future placement) had no statistically discernible relation with either reading or math achievement. CONCLUSIONS: OHP by itself is not significantly related to school achievement; however, evidence reveals consistently low average math and reading achievement among children involved with Child Protective Services.