Conducted by the Johannes Kepler University Linz in cooperation with Danish colleagues, the study reveals that the demands of parenthood significantly raises the likelihood of being prescribed antidepressants, especially for mothers.

The study was conducted on the basis of a quasi-experimental research approach comparing data collected in Denmark and Austria. Univ. Prof. Martin Halla (head of the JKU’s Department of Economic Policy) remarked: "On an anonymized basis, we evaluated medical prescriptions for everyone in Upper Austria."

Although the study focused only on analyzing data collected in Upper Austria, the findings can be applied to all of Austria as the underlying parameters involved are very similar.

The result: In Austria, the likelihood of mothers being prescribed antidepressants nine years after the birth of their first child increases by 5 percentage points on account of parenthood. In men, the difference is only 2.1 percentage points. The situation in Denmark is somewhat similar, but less marked. The likelihood of being prescribed antidepressants increases by 2.7 percentage points for women and 0.8 percentage points for men in this northern European country (see Fig. 1).

In effect, it is a medical gender gap of sorts as the likelihood of women being prescribed antidepressants on account of the demands of parenthood exceeds that of men by 93.2% (Austria) and 64.8% (Denmark).

Halla explains: "We have to add that we deliberately chose Denmark as a comparative country because according to studies, Danes are considered to be possibly the happiest people on Earth. In addition, when it comes to gender equality, Denmark is arguably one of the most progressive countries, not only in terms of social attitudes, but also in terms of legal and insurance parameters." He added that in contrast, Austria is more conservative.

Parents from all social classes are affected
The study also explored whether or not the gender differences could be explained by taking advantage of support services or because of postpartum depression. Halla noted that this, however, was not the case. More interestingly, the negative impact of the demands of parenthood is similar across most population groups. For example, there are no differences between families who have a child of high or low birth weight (which may indicate that the child is in poorer health), or between families of different cultural backgrounds.

The JKU researcher pointed out: "You can see it affects younger parents as well as less educated parents more but overall, it really runs through all segments of the population."

Lengthy maternity leave puts an even greater strain on mothers
Another stage of the study involved a comparison as to how the duration of maternity leave plays a role. Halla elaborates: "On account of various policy reforms, the end dates for parental leave can be longer or shorter; this allowed us to very accurately demonstrate the impact on mental health." In fact, it appears that mothers who spend more time with their children after birth are more likely to experience mental health problems (see Figure 2). No detectable effect was found with regard to fathers.

Multiple levels of gender inequality
Although the findings do not yield concrete measures, "…it is evident that gender equality during early childhood years is a long way from happening - not even in a progressive country such as Denmark, and certainly not in our country." He added that this information should definitely be taken into consideration, particularly when addressing changes to policies regarding parental leave. Halla argued: "While it's good that there are policies to help parents - especially mothers – by providing parental leave, it seems longer periods of parental leave do not benefit mothers in particular."

The fact that women who have children suffer a more massive loss of income compared to men ("child penalties in earnings") is well documented. The study adds that gender inequality on account of the demands of parenthood extends beyond the job market.

The link to the paper: wp2312.pdf (jku.at), opens an external URL in a new window