@techreport{Waights, type = {Working Paper}, author = {Waights, Sevrin}, title = {Parental Leave Benefits and Gender Inequality: Evidence from a Benefits Cap for High-Earning Mothers}, series = {Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers}, journal = {Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers}, edition = {No. 67}, doi = {10.48462/opus4-5860}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-58600}, pages = {80}, abstract = {I use the universe of tax returns in Germany and a regression kink design to estimate the impacts of mothers' parental leave benefit amounts on couple earnings inequality. I make use of a benefits cap to estimate the causal impacts for high-earning women; a group for which earnings inequality is particularly large. A lower mothers' benefit amount results in a reduced gender gap in earnings that persists beyond the benefit period for at least nine years after the birth. The longer-term impacts are driven by couples where the mother earned more than her partner pre-birth. Simulations suggest that a 10\% reduction in the benefit amount could reduce long-run child penalties in sample couples from 63 to 43\%.}, language = {en} }