More generous maternity leave benefits linked to better mental health for women into older age

Harvard Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, PhD, is co-author of a study published in Social Science & Medicine that explores the relationship between comprehensive maternity leave benefits and women’s mental health in later life, based on evidence from European countries.  The researchers, including Pop Center faculty member and former Bell Fellow Mauricio Avendano, PhD, who is lead author on the study, along with Giacomo Pasini, PhD, who was a visiting scientist at the Harvard Pop Center during the month of January, found that women who received more generous maternity leave benefits with their first born child experienced better mental health that extended in older age.