Sick leave before, during and after pregnancy

Using register data on every employed Norwegian woman giving birth to her first child in the period 1995–2008, we describe sick leave before, during and after pregnancy. Sick leave increases abruptly in the month of conception and continues to grow throughout the pregnancy. Compared to pre-pregnancy levels, sick leave of pregnant women has risen substantially since the mid-1990s. In line with hypotheses of women’s ‘double burden’, observed sick-leave rates increase in the years after birth. However, when sick leave during a succeeding pregnancy is excluded, the increase in women’s sick leave in the years after birth dissolves.