Is there competition between breast-feeding and maternal employment?
Theory suggests that the decision to return to employment after childbirth and the decision to breast-feed may be jointly determined. We estimate models of simultaneous equations for two different aspects of the relationship between maternal employment and breast-feeding using 1993-1994 data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Infant Feeding Practices Study. We first explore the simultaneous duration of breast-feeding and work leave following childbirth. We find that the duration of leave from work significantly affects the duration of breast-feeding, but the effect of breast-feeding on work leave is insignificant. We also estimate models of the daily hours of work and breast-feedings at infant ages 3 months and 6 months postpartum. At both times, the intensity of work effort significantly affects the intensity of breast-feeding, but the reverse is generally not found. Competition clearly exists between work and breast-feeding for many women in our sample.
Roe
B
B
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC 20204, USA.
Whittington
L A
LA
Fein
S B
SB
Teisl
M F
MF
D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016524:Parental Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D014931:Women, Working / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*