Numerous studies have investigated whether the provision and generosity of parental leave affects the employment and career prospects of women. Parental leave systems typically provide either short unpaid leave mandated by the firm, as in the US, or more generous and universal leave mandated by...

In this paper we study the separate effects of unemployment and job displace- ment on fertility in a sample of white collar women in Austria. Using an instru- mental variables approach we show that unemployment incidence as such has no negative effect on fertility decisions, but the very fact of...