21640: A Blessing or a Barrier? Maternity Leave Extension’s Impact on Leadership Gender Equality (session 25891)

There exists a significant and persistent gender gap in the representation of leadership positions, which reflects underlying inequalities in economic opportunities. The prevalence of gender bias in both society and the workplace has emerged as a substantial barrier to achieving gender equality. Although many emerging economies have implemented welfare intervention policies, such as maternity leave, to enhance women’s social well-being and address gender inequality, the negative consequences of such policies in the workplace—particularly concerning senior leadership positions—have not garnered sufficient scholarly attention. Viewing the revision of the Population and Family Planning Law of China in 2016 as a quasi-natural experiment, we investigate the impact of maternity leave extension on board gender diversity. The results suggest that extension of maternity leave may unintendedly strengthen existing gender bias against women in senior positions and thus lead to lower board gender diversity. This effect is more pronounced for family firms and firms in provinces with higher clan culture. This study provides new insights into the dark side of welfare intervention policies in widening the gender gap in business leadership.

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