The Impacts of Extending Maternity Leave on Child Health: Evidence from Uganda

Abstract

This article investigates the results of extending maternity leave on Ugandan child health. We exploit the expansion of maternity leave in the Uganda Employment Act of 2006, which went into effect in August 2006, to quantify the effects of interest. We discover that children exposed to the extension were healthier than their counterparts. Quantitatively, those exposed to the maternity leave extension grow 0.732 standard deviations taller and weigh 0.760 standard deviations more for their age. The findings highlight the significance of extending maternity leave in improving child health.