This is what it's all about.
Approximately 10% to 15% of women suffer from postpartum depression. Risk factors for postpartum depression of women are, for instance, lack of support, stress or sleep deprivation during the first weeks after giving birth. Paternity leave might reduce such risk factors. Therefore, I want to investigate in my dissertation if the introduction of paternity leave in 2021 in Switzerland does help improve the mental health of mothers.
Why is the question important?
According to the Federal Social Insurance Office, the cost of paternity leave is around CHF 230 million per year. To justify this sum from an economic point of view, it is important to know what positive effects paternity leave has on various areas. For example, studies in other European countries have shown that paternity leave increases the employment rate of women after childbirth and leads to more equal gender norms for children. Whether the introduction of paternity leave also has positive effects on women’s mental health after childbirth has not yet been widely studied. If this is the case, it would reduce health care costs, which in turn would put the costs of paternity leave into perspective.
This is what I need backing for.
To answer my question, I need data from a health insurance company. Providing such a dataset in compliance with all aspects of data protection requires a lot of work from the health insurance company. For this effort I have to compensate them. I had to realize that there is no way for a PhD student to get funding for my own project through the university. However, I find it very important to do research on a socio-politically relevant topic as part of my dissertation. I am glad if you support my project. Thank you very much for that.
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