Parental Leave Legislation and Women's Work: A Story of Unequal Opportunities (Free Lunchtime Seminar)

The Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) continues its fall
lunchtime seminar series October 24th with “Parental Leave Legislation and
Women's Work: A Story of Unequal Opportunities,” presented by Sari Pekkala
Kerr, Ph.D., senior research scientist and economist at WCW.

U.S. federal and state
family leave legislation requires employers to provide job protected parental
leave for new mothers covered under the legislation. In most cases the leave is
unpaid, and rarely longer than 12 weeks in duration. In this presentation, Kerr
will evaluate disparities in parental leave eligibility, access and usage
across the family income distribution in the United States, as well as look at
the links between leave taking and women's labor market careers. The
presentation will focus especially on low-income families, as their leave
coverage and ability to afford taking unpaid leave is particularly poor.

Although both state and
federal legislation have increased overall leave coverage, leave provision, and
leave taking, the new policies do not, however, reduce gaps between low- and
high-income families' eligibility, leave taking, or leave length. In addition,
the FMLA effects on leave taking were not stronger in states without prior
leave legislation, nor for women who met the eligibility cirteria, as these
women were already relatively well covered by other parental leave arrangements.
The increased leave taking does not have significant effects on women's wages,
earnings, employment, or promotions.

Kerr’s research and teaching focus on the
economics of labor markets, education and families. She is actively involved
with the academic community in Europe and in the U.S. An active member of
Helsinki Economics of Education Research Group (HEERG), a network of economists
working on questions related to educational policies and outcomes, particularly
in Finland, she has also served as the Scientific Secretary of the European
Regional Science Association and as an international expert in the European
Union Mutual Learning Panel on the Economics of Immigration.

Lunchtime seminars are held Thursdays, 12:30-1:30
p.m. at the Centers' Cheever House location, 828 Washington Street, Wellesley,
MA. The programs are free and open to the public. Guests are invited to bring
their lunches, WCW will provide tea and coffee. To confirm program line-up,
call 781 283 2500 or visit www.wcwonline.org/calendar.

The Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley
College is one of the largest gender-focused research-and-action organizations
in the world. Scholars at the Centers conduct social science research and
evaluation, develop theory and publications, and implement training and action programs
on issues that put women’s lives and women’s concerns at the center. Since
1974, WCW’s work has generated changes in attitudes, practices, and public
policy.