Less parental leave for same-sex male parents excludes them from benefits that support child development.

A study of parental leave entitlements has found that in the great majority of OECD countries, same-sex male parents are entitled to substantially less paid leave than different-sex parents and same-sex female parents. The study looked at the 33 OECD countries that offer paid parental leave. (The remaining OECD country, the United States, does not.)

The authors of the research suggest that the reasons behind their finding include a greater attribution of the caring role to women, and they recommend removing gendered and heteronormative language from parental leave regulations.

Only in four out of the 33 countries do all couples get the same paid parental leave: Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia. At the other extreme, in three countries—Israel, Switzerland and Turkey—same-sex male parents get nothing at all. In these three countries, same-sex female parents and different-sex parents get 14-17 weeks of paid parental leave. In 16 countries (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK), same-sex female parents get the same amount of leave as different-sex parents, but same-sex male parents don’t. On average, same-sex male parents get 22 fewer weeks of paid parental leave than different-six parents, ranging from two weeks less in the UK to over a year less in Hungary, Japan and South Korea.

Discrepancies in paid parental leave exist also between same-sex female parents and different-sex parents, but to a lesser extent. Same-sex female parents get the same paid parental leave as different-sex parents in 19 countries, though in two of these (Slovakia and Austria) that can only happen if one mother takes 100% of the parental leave and the other none, because no sharing with a second mother is allowed. In one country, Switzerland, the difference is absent because no partner of any gender gets any parental leave. In 14 countries, leave designed specifically for fathers is not available to same-sex female parents.

There are also differences in parental leave entitlements for adoptive parents of different gender orientations. Nine countries do not allow same-sex parent adoption at all (Chile, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey), and two countries do not provide leave for adoption (Greece and Switzerland). Most of the rest, 20 in total, provide the same parental leave benefit for all adoptive couples, irrespective of gender combination. In two countries (Mexico and Portugal), different-sex adoptive parents get more parental leave than same-sex female parents, who, in turn, get considerably more than same-sex male parents.

The authors highlight three factors that drive these discriminatory parental leave entitlements.

The first is the greater attribution of caring to women then to men, which disadvantages same-sex male parents. Whilst some difference in parental leave entitlements between mothers and fathers is biologically based – the need for recovery from the birth and for the establishment of breastfeeding – the disparities are often more substantial than biology alone would justify. And any parental leave reserved for biological mothers means that same-sex male parents get less time to care for their babies. This can be substantially less: in seven countries, this difference in availability of parental leave is six months long or greater (Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea).

The second factor works the other way: parental leave entitlements specifically designed to facilitate fathers taking leave in different-sex relationships are not always equally accessible for same-sex female couples

A third factor in discrimination is the wider inequality in marriage and adoption rights for same-sex parents.

The study authors recommend removing from parental leave legislation gendered and heteronormative language that designates women as primary caregivers and assumes that every family has one mother and one father.

The researchers refer to the Yogyakarta Principles, which outline human rights for LBGT people. Principle 24 relates to family benefits and states that “no family may be subjected to discrimination on the basis of the sexual orientation or gender identity of any of its members, including with regard to family-related social welfare and other public benefits.”

Since shared parental leave-taking has been found to be linked to a higher rate of breastfeeding, improved child development, improved parent mental health and better protection from wage or job loss, the inequalities in the legislation expose same-sex parents more to risks than different-sex parents face.

The post Same-sex male parents get on average 22 fewer weeks of paid parental leave than heterosexual couples in 29 OECD countries appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Significant maternal health changes in response to a small change in actual days of parental leave taken by fathers suggest days at home are used when it really matters.

Research on parental leave in Sweden shows that when fathers take just a few extra days off during the first months of a child’s life, mothers’ health benefits significantly.

In 2012, Sweden introduced “Double Days” into its parental leave system, allowing fathers to be at home not just for the first 10 days after the birth of a child, but also up to 30 more days during the first year while the mother is still at home. These parental leave days can be taken at any time and in any combination, including as single days off., meaning fathers can be available more often to help at difficult moments. For example, they might help with post-childbirth complications, breastfeeding difficulties, mothers’ medical appointments or simply times when the mother is feeling particularly unhappy or stressed.

This new parental leave arrangement for fathers has had significant impacts on mothers’ physical and mental health. According to a new study:

1. The number of fathers taking more than 10 days off in the first 60 days increased by 50% (from 7.8% to 11.7%). These days of parental leave were taken mostly in the first three months. (The first 180 days saw a 24% increase in the number of men taking extra days, from 24.6% to 30.5%.) These results don’t reflect fathers’ using these days in place of sick leave– the number of sick days taken by fathers didn’t change.
2. Fathers used these extra days of parental leave sparingly – the average was only 1-2 extra days by each father in the first six months.
3. Nonetheless, fathers’ taking such days produced significant health benefits for mothers, and particularly mothers with pre-birth medical conditions.

• Mothers were 14% less likely to have an inpatient or specialist outpatient visit for childbirth related complications (falling from 10.7% to 9.2%). The decrease was mostly in months 4-6.
• Mothers were 11% less likely to be prescribed an antibiotic in the first six months (from 17.3% to 15.4%).
• Mothers were 26% less likely to be prescribed an anti-anxiety drug in the first six months (from 1.2% of mothers to 0.9%). The change was mostly in the first three months.

Such significant health changes in response to such a small change in days of parental leave taken suggest that fathers are staying home on days when it really matters. For example, in the modified parental leave system, fathers are more likely to take at least one day of leave on the same day as the mother has an engagement with the health system, particularly if the mother has a previous medical condition.

The researchers also looked at the impact of grandparents living nearby. Surprisingly, having grandparents nearby was not associated with less use of the additional parental leave by fathers in the first months. However, when no grandparents lived nearby, mothers’ health benefitted more from fathers’ taking extra days of parental leave.

These strong results raise substantial issues for how parental leave is organised and also how health is managed.

Parental leave

Until now the focus has been on fathers taking time off to be alone with the child for a consolidated period – a “sequential” and “lumpy” approach, as the researchers describe it. The aim is to promote father-child bonding, change gender norms and improve maternal labor market outcomes. The new system in Sweden highlights another purpose of parental leave, relating to health of mothers, leading to an important modification in its configuration. (This is not to say that traditional leave taking does not benefit maternal health. In a UK study, for example, mothers reported better health outcomes for themselves when the father took paternity leave just after the birth. In a Swedish study, when fathers took paternity leave, mothers were more likely to breastfeed.)

The study also puts the spotlight on interdependence in families, showing that the expansion of choice for one parent benefits the other one directly. The parental leave debate is dominated by considerations of individual decision-making by fathers, as if they make their choices independently of the family. In this study, the researchers describe the situation quite differently: they look at how “the household decides, on a day-to-day basis, whether the father should work in the labor market or stay at home with the mother and child”.

The researchers recommend further studies to see whether the mother-child relationship improves when fathers take additional parental leave, given that this relationship is influenced by the mother’s physical and mental well-being.

Managing health

The researchers recommend more attention to the environment at home in the management of maternal health, rather than just in the medical system. Mothers spend most of their time at home, after all, and not at medical appointments. They quote Dr Neel Shah, a leading maternal health expert at Harvard Medical School:

“What’s important to understand is that most maternal deaths happen after women have the baby and the fundamental failure is not unsafe medical care but lack of adequate social support…a lot of the risks around childbirth happen after the baby is born during that vulnerable time when you’re trying to care for an infant while also taking care of your household and doing all the things we expect of moms.”

A key aspect of the home environment for a mother with a newborn is the presence of the father. In the light of these health management considerations, the researchers recommend that family leave should be extended beyond parental leave to the illness of any family member.

The post When fathers can take individual days of parental leave during the first months after a birth, mothers visit health clinics less often and use less prescription medication appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Paternity leave is a good start to fatherhood, but well-designed parental leave underpins the sharing of care that boosts early childhood development.

Coparenting is arguably the most important ingredient that fathers bring to early child development. Children thrive best when parents share their care, research finds. Dad is a source of parental love, another pair of hands, and a partner in the joint enterprise raising children — usually with mom.

So any supports, such as paternity leave or parental leave, that aid a father’s involvement, as well his competence and confidence, contribute to coparenting and thus to early child development.

However, getting such supports right has proved a challenge for policy makers. It hasn’t been easy to design leave arrangements that genuinely help fathers to share in caring for their children, particularly early in the children’s lives. Schemes from around the world that were announced to great applause have often seen low participation by fathers.

Coparenting underpins early child development

Practices introduced in Sweden and other Nordic countries, however, have helped distil some of the ingredients of success. Good design addresses two powerful, traditional cultures – at work and at home – that may prevent fathers from taking leave and thus playing their role in the coparenting that underpins early child development.

Traditional attitudes represent men as indispensable in the workplace, even when they have fatherhood responsibilities. Meanwhile, they may also be seen as dispensable at home, even when there’s a lot of childcare to be done. Poorly designed paternity leave or parental leave are likely to have low participation because one or both of these traditional cultures gets in the way.

Promoting paternity leave and parental leave

How can we get more fathers to take up leave? The key is to set down paternity and parental leave in law because that sends a loud signal. But the legislation needs to be framed so that it empowers both fathers and mothers to be advocates for it, within the workplace and at home. It should, in essence, turn both men and women into cheerleaders for dad taking leave. (It also helps if the workplace acts as a champion, too.)

“Policies such as paternity leave and parental leave support the involvement of two parents.”

This empowerment requires clearly defined rights in the workplace for fathers to take leave. These rights are easier to exercise when they are accompanied by understanding among employers of the business benefits that spring from supporting fathers. For example, it helps when employers understand that encouraging leave taking by fathers is paid back subsequently in employee loyalty and retention.

Second, leave arrangements should offer clearly defined advantages to the whole family – not just to dad but also to mom. At the very least, when a father takes up paternity or parental leave, it should require minimal financial loss to the household and little sacrifice on the part of the other parent.

Evidence on coparenting

It’s important to understand why fathers are important in early child development. Research does not suggest that fathers are intrinsically necessary for healthy child development. Children can thrive without fathers. Likewise, they can do well without mothers. The well-documented successes of same-sex parenting, be it by women or men – highlighted by Susan Golombok and others – demonstrate these points.

Research indicates that coparenting, rather than gendered parenting, is a vital ingredient in early child development. For most children, Mom and Dad – or a variant including step-parents – are likely to represent the best chance of experiencing such coparenting. Policies such as paternity leave and parental leave strengthen coparenting by supporting the involvement of two parents.

Paternity leave

It’s also important to understand the difference between paternity leave and parental leave. Paternity leave is typically taken immediately around a child’s birth and is usually quite short — a matter of days or weeks. Fathers who take paternity leave can get to know their newborn, learn about infant care and share a precious time with the other parent.

Photo: Shutterstock.

Parental leave may be taken by either fathers or mothers. It is designed to aid their longer term care of dependent children. It can last for months, even years, if taken flexibly or part-time and depending on the generosity of the leave regime.

Impact of parental leave

Parental leave normalises caring fatherhood in the workplace by making fathers visible and embedding fatherhood into company culture. It challenges notions that fathers are indispensable to work and dispensable to their children. Meanwhile, parental leave normalises caring fatherhood in the home, developing and establishing male competence in the absence of mothers, and highlighting fathers’ importance to early child development.

“Parental leave normalises caring fatherhood in the workplace by making fathers visible and embedding fatherhood into company culture. It challenges notions that fathers are dispensable to work and dispensable to their children.”

We know that parents bring many benefits to children, not only in hands-on care but by bringing income into the home. Parental leave functions – for both men and women – by promoting continuous connection to both work and to children. It helps each parent to contribute parental care and also access the earning and prestige that spring from participation in the labor market.

Parental leave design

However, the patchy success of parental leave legislation demonstrates that some key ingredients are required. A change in the law that simply allows fathers to take parental leave allocated on a family basis (so the mother effectively forfeits that time) – works poorly and results in low paternal participation.

Reserved time for fathers – “daddy months” – has much higher take-up. This “use it or lose it” parental leave turns fathers into the implementers of legislation; that is, it empowers them to advocate for their own leave at work and at home and thereby challenges traditional attitudes in both locations.

In Sweden, for example, the introduction in 1995 of a “use-it-or-lose-it” daddy month led significantly more fathers to take parental leave. There was a further sharp increase in the number of days taken by fathers when a second “daddy month” was added in 2002. Now a third month has been added, and we are assessing the impact.

Other design features are also vital for successful uptake of parental leave by fathers – flexibility, large numbers of days available over a lengthy period, high levels of pay replacement and application to those working in the casual and self-employed labour markets.

A great strength of well-designed parental leave is that neither mothers nor fathers experience themselves as being “losers” in the system. Both see it as “win”, so the explosive, often conflictual politics of gender are avoided.Governments should support coparenting and fathers’ involvement in caring for children, for example, through parental leave. This supports strong early childhood development.

The post Parental leave promotes coparenting, a key to early child development appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

It was, he says, “natural” to take on the broader household tasks. “I can’t remember any quarrelling about it. I did as much as I could. That was part of my job during leave.”

Pekka stayed at home for 8 months with his son. “I took two weeks paternity leave when the baby was born and one more week later. Then, when he was about 16 months old, I stayed at home, combining annual holiday with care leave. We did not want to put him in day care before he was two years old. It was OK for my wife to stay at home a year and a half, after which I took the rest.”

The picture Pekka painted of his family life is one that our network of research colleagues is finding in many countries when fathers take extended leave from work to care for their young children while their partners return to work. Our findings are set out in a new book published this month. We have found that the way couples work together in these situations is qualitatively different from how family life typically operates when a father takes just a couple of weeks of paternity leave around the time of birth and then goes back to work.

Gendered roles survive paternity leave

That pattern usually leaves dad as the secondary parent, a helper rather than an equal or autonomous caregiver. Typically, when dad takes just a couple of weeks off around the birth, the division of tasks in the home continues to follow a more traditional, gendered model that has proved highly frustrating for working mothers who usually remain the primary caregivers, mediating father-child relationships.

Solo fathering changes everything

In contrast, we have found that when a father spends weeks/months in solo care of young children, his long-term relationship with them is closer. Rather than just a helper in the home, he becomes a man who relishes his competence as a parent and takes much more responsibility for housework and care of the home. This chunk of solo caring by the father seems to be a tipping point, offering considerable potential for greater gender equality in the home.

“When Dad spends weeks/months in solo care of young children, his long-term relationship with the children is closer. It tips him from being a helper at home into a man who relishes his competence as a parent and takes responsibility for housework and care of the home.”

Pekka also explains how, like other similar fathers, his one-to-one experience in his wife’s absence led him to adjust to child-caring in “slow time”, at a child’s pace, rather than the faster world of his adult or working world. This shift made him more competent, better attuned to children and more reflective about his role.

“I probably have learned to be systematic, fast and effective in many ordinary, mundane tasks,” he says. “But the most important learning has to do with personal growth. It was a surprise to realise how impatient I could be. I always thought I was a really cool and calm person who does not flap about anything. The little one-year-old really pushed my buttons, and I had to manage my anger in a new way. I also began to think more about profound questions of life while sitting by the sandpit. Sandcakes are like life itself: it is not the completed cake that is important, but the process of making it.”

Photo: Quinn Dombrowski. Creative Commons.

Adam, in Norway, was home alone with his daughter, Thelma, for 15 weeks, starting when she was 6 months old. His experience was similar to Pekka’s. “We’d get up, and me and my daughter would set the breakfast table because I knew I didn’t have to rush, so I’d make breakfast for everyone. And Thelma would sit and eat her breakfast. And afterwards we’d tidy up together. We’d go out on the back balcony, and then we would have all the toys out. And she’d play, and we’d play, and we would go around the garden. Then it would maybe be time for her to sleep. So then she’d sleep, and then I would clean up the breakfast and vacuum and do the washing. And, just like my sister said, you’ll be the housewife.”

Adam and Pekka show how important changes seem to be happening in fatherhood and family life in countries that have allowed, persuaded or nudged fathers to take longer leave alone with the children. Fathers are interacting more with their children and sharing more responsibilities in the home. The quality of the couples’ relationships may also improve, with greater mutual understanding and sharing. We also see some fertility gains – in Sweden and Norway, where leave for fathers is generous, such couples are more likely than parents elsewhere in Europe to have a third child.

Our findings, from researchers in 11 countries, are qualitative, involving small samples and in-depth interviews, and should prompt larger-scale quantitative research. They reflect shifts in leave arrangements not only in the Nordic countries which, over the past 20 years, have increasingly offered use-it-or-lose-it extended leave for fathers that can be taken in the first years of a child’s life and which is not transferable to, or from, the mother. Our studies also include other countries, such as Canada and Portugal, which have recently enhanced fathers’ leave entitlements.

Smart design of parental leave is vital

It seems that where parental leave is transferable from the mother and poorly paid – the system that has developed, for example, in the UK – fathers tend not to use it. They don’t want to take away women’s entitlements. Additionally, because men are typically the higher earners, the family can’t afford for the fathers to take those entitlements in any case.

“Then it would maybe be time for her to sleep. I would clean up the breakfast and vacuum and do the washing. And, just like my sister said, you’ll be the housewife.”

However, in countries where some of the leave can be taken only by the father and it’s also well paid, dads do take it. For example, fathers’ earmarked entitlement in Norway is 10 weeks of fully compensated leave. It’s part of the couples’ total 49-week parental leave entitlement, and it’s more readily taken up than in the UK, often once the mother has returned to work. This pattern of role-swapping also reduces the couples’ reliance on day-care.

In market economies, it’s hard to nudge fathers’ behaviour in this way because it typically requires state intervention – it can be uncompetitive for employers to set such systems up unilaterally. Establishing such a system requires countries or companies to set a value on changed behaviour and recalibrate the rules around leave for fathers accordingly.

Leave policies shape families and gender roles

Countries that pursue such a policy may find that they’re laying the foundations for a second gender revolution, one that builds on the first revolution which has enshrined rights for women in the workplace. The second revolution could create symmetry for men – they could move more into the home and participate in the family as carers as well as earners.

Looking at different welfare systems, there’s a risk that a division will emerge between parental leave-rich and parental leave-poor countries. Such a division could also occur within countries, if welfare models are inflexible. For example, access to leave arrangements in Nordic countries is linked to citizenship. In some countries, leave arrangements are not generous for self-employed or irregularly employed workers. As result, poor parents have fewer options.

The message of our studies to governments and employers is that the rules they set for leave arrangements in children’s early years may have a significant impact on how families operate. This includes the roles that men and women occupy in work and the home and the strength of fathers’ relationships with their children.

The post “Home alone” parental leave for dads transforms fatherhood appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

Research from three industrialised countries finds that early returns to work after childbearing do not pose a threat to the healthy development of children.

Mothers’ going back to work soon after childbirth poses no harm to children’s development, according to our recent studies in the US, UK, and Australia.

Studies of children born a generation earlier, in the 1970s, ’80s, and early ’90s, painted a more worrying picture. These studies found that when mothers returned to work in the first year or two after childbirth, children’s early learning and behavioral skills suffered.

Our findings were based on nationally representative panel studies of thousands of children born in the early 2000’s in the US, UK, and Australia. The studies followed children and families from birth until they entered primary school.

Mothers reported their employment experiences after childbirth; the children’s cognitive and behavioral skills were directly assessed and rated by teachers in kindergarten or first grade. We used advanced statistical techniques to adjust for factors—such as maternal education and prior work experience—that could bias associations between early maternal employment and children’s functioning. Doing so helped us isolate how mothers’ employment specifically might support or harm children’s development.

Early return to work is now common

Going back to work early – within two years of childbirth – was common among mothers in all three countries, though mothers from the UK and Australia were slower to return to work than American mothers—likely because the UK and Australia have more generous maternity leave policies. Nearly 70 per cent of US mothers returned to work before their child was two years old, compared with 60 per cent of mothers in the UK and a third of Australian mothers. By the time children had started formal schooling, the early years picture was reversed: a higher proportion of mothers were employed in the UK and Australia than in the US.

“Early maternal employment does not harm families.”

We found that, when they entered school, children of mothers who went back to work early had cognitive and behavioral skills similar to those of children whose mothers weren’t employed during the first two years after childbirth. This was true for children in all three countries.

We also examined whether the number of hours mothers worked, mothers’ job earnings, or the number of hours children spent in child care affected the association between maternal employment and children’s development. Overall, we saw few consistent patterns to suggest that these factors explained or altered associations between early maternal employment and children’s later skills.

Mixed picture around part-time work

We did find some evidence to suggest that part-time work had different implications for children’s development in different countries. In the US, we saw some small negative links between part-time employment and children’s behavioral skills. Children of mothers who worked part-time in the first 9 months after childbirth had lower social skills, while children of mothers who went to work part-time between 9 and 24 months after childbirth had more conduct problems. In contrast, when mothers in the UK and Australia returned to work part-time between 9 and 24 months after childbirth, we saw small benefits for children’s behavioral skills.

Income effect stronger for poorer households

Household income and maternal income from employment also emerged as a factor in the US and UK. In the US, children from low-income families had slightly higher cognitive skills if their mothers went back to work before they were 9 months old, and fewer conduct problems if their mothers went back to work when they were between 9 and 24 months old.

In middle-income households, there were no negative effects if mothers worked when their children were under nine months. However, we saw small detrimental effects among children in high-income households. We found a similar pattern in the UK in relation to mothers’ income from employment. Children with mothers who earned less appeared to benefit from employment begun between 9 and 24 months after childbirth in comparison to children with lower-earning mothers who began employment earlier than 9 months or later than 24 months after childbirth.

Reassuring message for maternal employment

The message of our research, across these three countries, is that parents can feel reassured that early maternal employment does not harm families, and may even be beneficial in lower-income families. Why are our findings different from the findings of studies conducted among children born in earlier generations? One possible explanation is that the implications of early maternal employment for children have changed, because mothers’ work is more accepted and fathers are more involved in caregiving. It’s also possible that the discrepancies are due to differences in study design or measurement.

Photo: Ian. Creative Commons.

Mothers’ employment has broad benefits for society. It supports women’s careers, encourages balanced gender roles, and increases families’ economic resources. Our study shows that, in general, children from the US, UK and Australia aren’t harmed when mothers work.

Psychological cost may outweigh income effect for better-off households

We found some evidence to suggest that income from employment makes a difference for children’s development, but in different ways depending on a family’s socioeconomic status. US children from families with limited income from non-maternal work sources may achieve slight benefits from early maternal employment, whereas children from higher-income families may suffer small detriments. Similarly, UK children of lower-earning mothers benefited from maternal employment begun between 9 and 24 months. Poorer children from both countries appeared to benefit from the income mothers earned; in better-off families, however, the added benefit of mothers’ work income may not outweigh psychological or social costs of early maternal employment.

Need for improved work-family policies

Our results highlight the importance of work-family policies that support women’s ability to balance childrearing and employment. The US currently has no federal paid maternity leave policy and a limited unpaid leave policy of 12 weeks for eligible working mothers. Maternity leave is more comprehensive in the UK, offering mothers job security for up to 39 weeks after childbirth, though only the first six weeks of maternity leave are fully paid. In Australia, mothers can claim up to 18 weeks’ leave, paid at the national minimum wage.

Our work shows correlation rather than causation, and thus caution is warranted in drawing policy implications. Still, our results suggest that US and UK children might benefit from more comprehensive paid maternal leave policies, which have been found to encourage mothers’ employment continuity after childbearing while also providing income replacement.

Further, the slight negative associations between part-time work and children’s development in the US suggest that the income from part-time work may not compensate for mothers’ time away from parenting. Part-time jobs in the US tend to pay little and offer few benefits such as health insurance and paid sick days. In contrast, part-time jobs in Australia and the UK tend to offer more pay and benefits. Our results suggest that enhancing the quality and pay of part-time jobs could be an important way to improve US children’s developmental outcomes.

The post Mothers going back to work early doesn’t harm child development appeared first on Child and Family Blog.