Today, many pregnant women take a brief period of time off work to give birth. This article explores the effects of pregnancy employment on health at birth. Initial results show that pregnancy employment has beneficial effects. However, these effects often become statistically insignificant when...

The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave to address family issues. Twelve states and the District of Columbia passed similar legislation antedating the FMLA. However, studies in the economics literature find either small or insignificant effects...

About 30% of Americans are currently obese, which is roughly a 100% increase from 25 years ago. Public health officials have consequently become alarmed because recent research indicates that societal costs of obesity now exceed those of cigarette smoking and alcoholism. Cigarette taxes may have...

Vehicle ownership may promote work if employment opportunities and job searches are enhanced by reliable transportation. For example, vehicles may serve to reduce potential physical isolation from employment opportunities. I examine the effects of vehicle ownership and vehicle quality on...

Using data from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY-97), we examine the effects of California's paid family leave program (CA-PFL) on mothers' and fathers' use of leave during the period surrounding child birth, and on the timing of mothers' return to work, the...