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Article

Maternity Leave Reform and Women’s Labor Outcomes in Colombia: A Synthetic Control Analysis

by
Jhon James Mora
1,*,
Diana Yaneth Herrera Duque
1,
Juan Tomas Sayago
2 and
Andres Cendales
3
1
Departamento de Economía, Facultad de Negocios y Economía, Universidad Icesi, Cali 760031, Colombia
2
Department of Economics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
3
Departamento de Economía y Administración, Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad de Caldas, Manizales 170001, Colombia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Economies 2025, 13(10), 299; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies13100299
Submission received: 3 September 2025 / Revised: 10 October 2025 / Accepted: 13 October 2025 / Published: 17 October 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Labour and Education)
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Abstract

This article examines the effects of maternity leave (Law 1822 of 2017) on the Colombian women’s labor market. Using biannual cohorts during the working life cycle of women (18 to 57 years old) reveals that the law’s implementation reduced the hours worked and the real hourly wage for younger women compared to older women. Average treatment effects show that the difference between the hours worked after 2017 was 0.917 (treatment vs. control), and before, it was 1.714 h worked (treatment vs. control). Differences show a reduction of 41 h per cohort and year (approximately one week worked). Synthetic control analysis shows that young cohort experienced a reduction of 0.007 U$ cents in 2017 and a reduction of 2.2 h worked in 2017. Our results highlight the importance of differential policies related to maternity leave by age (cohort) when analyzing the incorporation of women into the labor market.
Keywords: maternity leave; female labor market; labor regulation; quantitative and price effects; synthetic control maternity leave; female labor market; labor regulation; quantitative and price effects; synthetic control

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MDPI and ACS Style

Mora, J.J.; Herrera Duque, D.Y.; Sayago, J.T.; Cendales, A. Maternity Leave Reform and Women’s Labor Outcomes in Colombia: A Synthetic Control Analysis. Economies 2025, 13, 299. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies13100299

AMA Style

Mora JJ, Herrera Duque DY, Sayago JT, Cendales A. Maternity Leave Reform and Women’s Labor Outcomes in Colombia: A Synthetic Control Analysis. Economies. 2025; 13(10):299. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies13100299

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mora, Jhon James, Diana Yaneth Herrera Duque, Juan Tomas Sayago, and Andres Cendales. 2025. "Maternity Leave Reform and Women’s Labor Outcomes in Colombia: A Synthetic Control Analysis" Economies 13, no. 10: 299. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies13100299

APA Style

Mora, J. J., Herrera Duque, D. Y., Sayago, J. T., & Cendales, A. (2025). Maternity Leave Reform and Women’s Labor Outcomes in Colombia: A Synthetic Control Analysis. Economies, 13(10), 299. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies13100299

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