The Effect of Hospital Postpartum Care Regulations on Breastfeeding and Maternal Time Allocation
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics · 2023 · Emily C. Lawler、Katherine Yewell
中文摘要
我们研究了旨在通过要求在产后住院期间达到特定护理标准以促进母乳喂养的州级医院规制的效果。我们发现，这些规制使母乳喂养起始率统计显著提高了3.8个百分点（5.1%），并使产后3个月和6个月时的母乳喂养概率提高了约7%。我们还提供证据表明，这些促进母乳喂养的政策统计显著增加了母亲用于照料儿童的时间，从而挤占了用于正规工作的时间。观察到的就业下降集中在婴儿年龄为0至3个月的母亲群体中。（JEL H75, I11, I18, J13, J16, J22）
Abstract
We study the effects of state hospital regulations intended to increase breastfeeding by requiring certain standards of care during the immediate postpartum hospital stay. We find that these regulations significantly increased breastfeeding initiation by 3.8 percentage points (5.1 percent) and the probability of breastfeeding at 3 and 6 months postpartum by approximately 7 percent. We also provide evidence that these breastfeeding-promoting policies significantly increased maternal time spent on child care, crowding out time spent on formal work. Observed reductions in employment are concentrated among mothers with infants between zero and three months of age. (JEL H75, I11, I18, J13, J16, J22)