Chile doubled maternity leave. Mothers kept their jobs.

Chile doubled postnatal leave from 12 to 24 weeks in October 2011, and a new study tracking the fourteen years since suggests the women who took it kept their jobs. Economist Francisca Rojas-Ampuero found formal employment among eligible mothers rose roughly 15 to 16 percent in the three years after leave ended. The effect faded later, but only because ineligible mothers caught up over time. The reform's cutoff date, July 25, 2011, gave Rojas-Ampuero a clean comparison group. She also found that before the extension, many Chilean mothers had been quietly cobbling together sick-child leave, mental health leave, and pregnancy-related illness leave to stay home longer. The old system wasn't preventing extended absences. It was just making mothers fill out more forms. Gains were largest for women with shorter job tenure and those in municipalities with limited childcare. The reform was designed with exactly those mothers in mind.