Fewer births occur on major US holidays than would otherwise be expected. We use California data to study the nature and health implications of this birth date manipulation.
We document 18 percent fewer births on the day of and just after a holiday. C-sections account for roughly half of the decline. “Missing” holiday births are moved to the roughly two-week window both before and after the holiday. High-risk births are more likely to be re-scheduled than low-risk births. Despite the documented change in timing, we find little evidence of any adverse health consequences for babies born around a holiday.
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Contact person: Raf van Gestel
