Fathers' Time Off Work After the Birth of a Child and Relationship Dissolution among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged U.S. Families (original) (raw)
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Are Parental Relationships Improved if Fathers Take Time Off of Work After the Birth of a Child
Research has begun to examine the consequences of paternity leave, focusing primarily on whether paternity leave-taking increases father involvement. Yet, other consequences of paternity leave-taking have not been considered using U.S data. This study uses longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine whether fathers' time off from work after the birth of a child is associated with relationship quality, relationship support, and coparenting quality. We also consider whether these relationships are mediated by father involvement. Results suggest that fathers' time off of work after a birth and length of time off are each positively associated with relationship quality and coparenting quality one year after a child's birth. They are also positively associated with trajectories of relationship quality and coparenting quality over the first five years after birth. Father involvement at least partially mediates these relationships. Overall, this study suggests that the potential benefits of fathers' time off of work after the birth of a child may extend beyond father involvement and may improve parental relationships.
Does Fathers' Involvement in Childcare and Housework Affect Couples' Relationship Stability
Social Science Quarterly, 2018
Objective. Building on previous analysis conducted by Schober (2012), we explore how paternal involvement in different childcare and housework tasks affects the probability of relationship breakdown between parents. Methods. We use logistic regression on the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study to predict parental relationship breakdown from nine months to seven years post-childbirth. Paternal involvement in four childcare and three housework tasks during the first year of parenthood, are used as explanatory variables. Results. The amount of time the father spends alone, caring for the baby during the first year of parenthood, is associated with the stability of the parental relationship but the effect of involvement in other tasks is moderated by ethnicity and the mother's employment status. Conclusion. These nonlinear relationships suggest further research is needed to explore the different associations between paternal involvement in childcare and housework and relationship breakdown, which are complex and variable according to different characteristics.
Paternity Leave-Taking and Father Involvement among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged U.S. Fathers
In the present study, we examine the associations between the amount of time that U.S. employed fathers took off from work after the birth of a child (i.e., paternity leave-taking) and trajectories of how frequently fathers engage with their children and take responsibility for them. To do so, we analyze longitudinal data on 2,109 fathers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a data set that contains information from disproportionately socioeconomically disadvantaged families from large urban areas. The results indicate that, one year after birth, paternity leavetaking and lengths of leave are positively associated with fathers' engagement and responsibility. In addition, paternity leave-taking is positively associated with trajectories of fathers' responsibility over the first 5 years after birth. Lengths of paternity leave are positively associated with trajectories of fathers' engagement. Finally, there is evidence that paternity leave-taking and lengths of leave-taking are especially likely to boost fathers' engagement and responsibility among nonresident fathers. Overall, the findings from the present study suggest that an expansion of paternity leave-taking may encourage higher subsequent levels of father involvement-especially among nonresident fathers. Keywords parental leave; paternity leave; fatherhood; father involvement; father identity theory Although there has been a great deal of research on work-family balance, one prominent policy that promotes work-family balance has been understudied: paternity leave. Paternity leave encourages fathers to practice parenting skills and engage with their children while also fulfilling their expectations as breadwinners. In the process, paternity leave offers support to fathers who seek to fulfill both new and traditional fathering ideals (Galinsky,
We use longitudinal survey and qualitative information from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how risk factors such as physical abuse, problematic substance use, and incarceration among unmarried fathers in the study are related to fathers' early involvement with their children. The survey results indicate that nearly half of fathers have at least one risk factor and that each risk is negatively associated with paternal involvement. The results also show that fathers with risk factors are less likely to have romantic relationships with mothers and that relationships between parents mediate associations between risk factors and fathers' involvement. Qualitative interviews with a sub-sample of mothers and fathers in the study illustrate the meaning of risks for parents and the processes through which early family outcomes occur. Parents' accounts suggest that mothers often select out of relationships they deem " unhealthy " and monitor fathers' access to children , particularly in cases of physical abuse. While some fathers with risks withdraw from children, others attempt to maintain their involvement independently or as part of a strategy with the mother to address these risks with varying success. We suggest that policies to promote marriage and responsible fatherhood be mindful that some fathers they are targeting have characteristics that may not be conducive to increased involvement while other fathers face personal and institutional barriers to involvement. Keywords: father involvement, fragile families, incarceration, domestic violence, marriage promotion. The President is determined to make committed, responsible fatherhood a national priority. .. [T]he presence of two committed, involved parents contributes directly to better school performance, reduced substance abuse, less crime and delinquency, fewer emotional and other behavioral problems , less risk of abuse or neglect, and lower risk of teen suicide. The research is clear: Fathers factor significantly in the lives of their children. There is simply no substitute for the love, involvement, and commitment of a responsible father (Executive Office of the President 2001). Drawing on social science research that suggests children from single parent families face disadvantages as adults, policymakers have presented paternal absence as a public problem, or an issue with public status and for which action is required (Gusfield 1984). In light of this concern, recent policies and programs have been aimed at encouraging the involvement of fathers with their biological children. " Responsible fatherhood " initiatives targeted primarily at low-income, unmarried fathers have received bi-partisan support in Congress and from The authors wish to thank the Public Policy Institute of California for generous support of qualitative data collection. The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study is funded by the NICHD and a consortium of agencies and foundations.
Paternity leave-taking is believed to benefit children by encouraging father-child bonding after a birth and enabling commitments to fathers' engagement. Yet, no known U.S. studies have directly focused on the associations between paternity leave-taking and children's reports of father-child relationships. Understanding the potential consequences of paternity leave-taking in the United States is particularly important given the lack of a national paid parental leave policy. The present study uses five waves of data on 1,319 families, largely socioeconomically disadvantaged, from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to analyze the associations between paternity leave-taking and 9-year-old children's reports of their father-child relationships. We also assess the extent to which these associations are mediated by fathers' engagement, co-parenting quality, parental relationship satisfaction, and fathers' identities. Results indicate that leave-taking, and particularly 2 weeks or more of leave, is positively associated with children's perceptions of fathers' involvement, father-child closeness, and father-child communication. The associations are explained, at least in part, by fathers' engagement, parental relationship satisfaction, and father identities. Overall, results highlight the linked lives of fathers and their children, and they suggest that increased attention on improving opportunities for parental leave in the United States may help to strengthen families by nurturing higher quality father-child relationships.
Parental Leave Use among Disadvantaged Fathers
The United States lags behind other industrialized countries in its lack of inclusive and standardized parental leave policy after the birth or adoption of a child. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=2,233), this study examines the patterns and predictors of fathers' parental leave use, as well as its association with father-child engagement. Our findings indicate that the vast majority of employed fathers take parental leave, but they rarely take more than one week of leave. Fathers who have more positive attitudes about fatherhood and who live with the birth mother are especially likely to take leave, and to take more weeks of leave, than other fathers. Finally, we find that taking parental leave, and taking more weeks of parental leave, is positively associated with father engagement levels at one year and five years after the birth of his child. Unlike other industrialized countries, the United States does not have a universal parental leave policy that offers inclusive, standardized, and paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child. Until recently, relatively little attention has been paid to the need for more generous parental leave policies in the U.S. (Craig & Mullan, 2011; Nepomnyaschy & Waldfogel, 2007). Correspondingly, few scholars have studied fathers' parental leave patterns-especially among disadvantaged and non-resident fathers. Also, because fathers' use of parental leave is thought to be very short and is perceived to be uncommon, the association between paternity leave and father-child relationships is an understudied area; however, paternity leave has the potential to encourage fathers to become more involved in their new children's lives (Haas & Hwang, 2008; Tanaka & Waldfogel, 2007). Therefore, we need to know more about the patterns of paternity leave-taking in the U.S. and the relationships between leave-taking and father-child engagement.
Paternity Leave and Parental Relationships: Variations by Gender and Mothers' Work Statuses
Objective: This study examines the associations between paternity leave and parents' reports of relationship satisfaction and relationship conflict, and whether the associations vary by parent gender and mothers' work statuses. Background: Paternity leave research in the U.S. has focused on implications for father involvement, but paternity leave may also help to strengthen parental relationships by promoting a more equitable division of domestic labor. Given gender gaps in childcare, the association between paternity leave and parental relationship outcomes may also vary by gender and mothers' work statuses. Method: The sample consists of 4,700 couples (i.e., parent dyads) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort. Multilevel models are used to assess the associations between paternity leave and both relationship satisfaction and conflict, and whether these associations vary by gender and mothers' work statuses. Results: Paternity leave-taking is positively associated with parents' reports of relationship satisfaction, but length of paternity leave is only positively associated with mothers' reports of relationship satisfaction. Also, among mothers who worked prior to the child's birth, paternity leave-taking and length of leave are negatively associated with their reports of relationship conflict. In contrast, among mothers who did not work in paid labor pre-birth, paternity leave is positively associated with mothers' reports of relationship conflict. Conclusion: Paternity leave may have implications for parental relationships (and especially mothers' perceptions of their relationships with fathers).
Parenting Stress Among Low-Income and Working-Class Fathers
Journal of Family Issues, 2014
Contemporary norms of fatherhood emphasize the dual demands of breadwinning and daily involvement in child care. Recent qualitative research suggests that working-class fathers find it difficult to meet these demands due to job instability and workplace inflexibility. Yet little quantitative research has examined how employment characteristics are related to fathers’ parenting stress, in comparison with mothers’. Analyses using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 3,165) show that unemployment and workplace inflexibility, but not overwork, multiple jobs, odd jobs, and nonstandard hours, are related to more parenting stress for fathers. Although these two factors are also related to more parenting stress for mothers, nuanced gender differences emerged: these are better predictors than other parental or child characteristics for fathers only, and the effect size of workplace inflexibility is greater for fathers than mothers. In sum, securing a job with flexib...
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This study examines how earnings penalties to motherhood combine with the cost of partner absence to affect single mothers’ economic well-being. Using 25-years of longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) from 1990 to 2015 and fixed-effect models with individual-specific slopes I find that, after adjusting for needs, the transition to parenthood is as strongly linked to reduced income as partner absence. Comparing how these different routes to single motherhood affect economic outcomes, I show that previously married mothers face larger income penalties than those who were single when their first child was born because they see larger declines in their own earnings following childbirth. The results illustrate how marriage and parenthood, alongside partner absence, shape the economic prospects of single mother families, and highlight the importance of reducing gender inequalities in the labor market for improving single mothers’ economic well-being.