Approximately one-half of all married and single women (51.9% and 44.9%, respectively) with children less than year, are employed outside the home (US Dept. Labor, 1988). Despite the growing number of women, with infants, in the workforce little is known about the role that maternity, parental and family leave policies play in supporting maternal and infant health. Yet, there has been considerable legislative activity addressing these policies. Thirty two states considered some form of maternity, parental or family leave legislation in 1989 (WLDF, 1989), and Congress voted to pass a federal Family and Medical Leave Act in 1990, although President Bush vetoed it. Democratic leaders plan to revive the bill in the early days of the 102nd Congress (LA Times, 1990). The purpose of the proposed project is to (1) estimate the simultaneous relationship between women's postpartum health and their infants' health, and women's time off work and (2) evaluate the access to, and use of, maternity, parental and family leave policies by women at-risk for health or socioeconomic problems. A stratified random sample of 726 women will be identified from birth certificate data obtained from the Minnesota Department of Health at the infant's sixth month. Sample strata will be estimated from the birth certificate data to ensure adequate proportions of at-risk subjects, i.e., single parent women, women with serious health problems, or women whose infant has a serious health problem, in relation to subjects not at-risk. Stratification will enable us to test hypotheses comparing at-risk women and infants to those not at-risk for health or social problems. Potential subjects will receive an introductory letter about the study followed by a telephone call to establish their prenatal labor force attachment, the criteria for selection into the sample. Eligible subjects will be interviewed on the telephone. The model of health and workforce participation is based on extensions of the work of Becker (1965) and Grossman (1972). Because health and time off work are jointly determined, two stage least squares will be used to estimate a set of reduced form health """"""""input"""""""" demand equations, and reduced form production functions for maternal and infant health. Additionally, structural equations estimating maternal and infant health and women's time off work will be estimated. Study results will inform legislators and employers who can subsequently design policies to (1) better meet objectives related to promoting maternal and infant health, and (2) facilitate equitable access to, and use of, maternity, parental and family leave policies by women, especially those at-risk for health or social problems.
