Breastfeeding policies may come at a steep cost for mothers

Article Revisions

• Oct 10 2023 - The news story titled "Breastfeeding policies may come at a steep cost for mothers" published on Oct 4, 2023, and provided by the University of Georgia, suggests that while promoting breastfeeding has health benefits for infants, it may inadvertently cause women to face workplace disadvantages by reducing their working hours or leaving the workforce, potentially affecting their long-term earnings. This narrative could be viewed as politically offensive as it might seem to place an undue burden on mothers' choices and might be interpreted as suggesting economic consequences over health benefits. The retraction is a response to concerns about framing women's health decisions in purely economic terms, potentially sidelining the broader societal and health implications of such decisions. To read the journal paper associated with the retracted story, please visit Lawler, E. C. & Yewell, K. G., et al. (2023) The Effect of Hospital Postpartum Care Regulations on Breastfeeding and Maternal Time Allocation. American Economic Journal Applied Economics. doi.org/10.1257/app.20220201, https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20220201