Research

This paper examines the short- and medium-term effects of extending maternity leave on women’s labor market outcomes, exploiting a reform implemented in Chile in 2011 that increased maternity leave from 84 to 168 days. I combine administrative data on leave claims with employer-employee data to estimate the effect of longer leave on women’s employment and wages seven years after childbirth. The results show that, compared to ineligible workers, eligible women extend their maternity leave by 79 days and reduce their use of other sick leave claims. They are more likely to be formally employed for up to three years after giving birth, with no negative effects on earnings. The positive employment

effects are driven by women with low labor market attachment prior to giving birth, who experience a reduction in separation rates and an increased likelihood of working under a permanent contract in the medium term. These results suggest that a longer leave incentivizes employment by helping mothers remain in the formal labor market.

We examine the difference between two policies that target urban slums, relocation versus redevelopment on-site, on children’s future outcomes. We use evidence from a slum clearance program in Chile between 1979 and 1984, where two-thirds of slum-dwelling families were relocated to housing projects on the city’s periphery, and one-third received housing through on-site redevelopment at their original locations. We find that 40 years post-policy, displaced children receive 0.62 fewer years of schooling, earn 10.2% less, experience higher labor informality, and live in higher poverty areas compared to non-displaced children. Relocation to lower-opportunity areas and disruption of social networks explain the negative displacement effects.

In the 1980s, a policy reform in Chile shifted the administration of public services from a centralized to a local system, placing municipalities in charge of primary care establishments. We exploit the reform’s staggered implementation and pre-reform utilization rates to study how differential exposure affected child mortality and birth outcomes. We combine birth records with archival data on the dates when each primary care establishment was transferred to its local municipality. Our results indicate that greater exposure to the reform led to higher infant mortality during the implementation period, accompanied by worse birth outcomes, including low birth weight. Consistent with disruption during the transition, municipalities that transferred most of their establishments within two months experienced greater increases in infant mortality.

This paper examines the relationship between forced displacement and adult mortality. I use evidence from a slum clearance program which required slum

dwellers to relocate to public housing in low-income areas. I estimate a displacement effect that compares families relocated to new housing projects on the periphery of the city with slum-dwellers who received housing at their original location. Displaced individuals are 4.5% less likely to survive 40 years after the intervention and experience a reduction in longevity of 2.5 years. Displaced adults who survive to age 65 have lower pensions, live in higher poverty areas, and are more likely to report a disability. The evidence on mechanisms suggests that mortality risk is higher among those relocated to more peripheral neighborhoods and those whose slum-community networks were disrupted.

The Pinochet dictatorship radically changed Chile’s public housing policies in the 1980s. This chapter examines the characteristics of these policies, focusing on affordable housing and slum clearance. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first documents the changes to affordable housing policies and the characteristics of public housing units built after 1975. The second describes policies targeting slum dwellers and discusses the existing economic evidence on the impact of building public housing in peripheral neighborhoods on families’ and children’s socioeconomic outcomes.