Time to care: socioeconomic, family, and workplace factors in men and women’s parental leave use

ABSTRACT

Parental leave has important benefits for women, men, and families. This study examines how individual, family, and workplace factors are associated with the length of parental leaves taken by workers in diverse jobs and work contexts, but with the same employer, focusing on gender differences in the factors associated with longer parental leaves. The data are the result of a collaboration between university researchers and a municipal employer. We find that gender was a major driver of the duration of parental leaves for these workers, who must use their accumulated paid time off or take unpaid leave for parental leave; women’s leaves were almost three times longer than men’s. We also find gender differences in the factors associated with leave duration. For women, socioeconomic status seemed to matter most, while for men, family and workplace context influenced leave length. The results indicate the centrality of financial considerations in parents’ leave decisions, reinforcing the importance of having a dedicated paid parental leave policy. We argue that paid parental leaves would help reduce disparities between and within genders at work and in the family.

RESUMEN

Los permisos parentales ofrecen importantes beneficios para mujeres, hombres y sus familias. Desde una perspectiva de género, investigamos cómo impactan factores individuales, familiares y organizacionales en la duración de los permisos parentales de trabajadores. Nuestra muestra consideró a hombres y mujeres con distintas ocupaciones, pero contratados por el mismo empleador. Es importante indicar que los datos para este estudio los obtuvimos gracias a la colaboración prestada por una municipalidad como empleador. Nuestra principal conclusión es que las relaciones de género son un determinante fundamental de la duración de los permisos parentales: los permisos para mujeres son casi tres veces más largos que los entregados a hombres. Otro hallazgo importante es que el impacto de las relaciones de género varía según su combinación con otros factores: el estatus socioeconómico afecta mucho más a las mujeres; mientras que factores familiares y organizacionales son los principales determinantes de la duración de los permisos para hombres. Nuestros resultados dan cuenta de lo fundamental que son los factores económicos en la decisión que toman las familias respecto a sus permisos parentales y por eso, proponemos que la entrega de permisos parentales remunerados permitirán reducir la desigualdad entre mujeres, y entre mujeres y hombres trabajadores.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental leave
• work-family balance
• gender
• policy

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Permisos parentales
• conciliación familia-trabajo
• género
• politicas publicas

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Details of the new policy can be found here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor/apm/hr/APM2-49PaidParentalLeavePolicy.pdf

2 States with paid family leave laws in effect include California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Washington, and Massachusetts. The District of Columbia’s law will go into effect in 2020.

3 As reported to researchers by City of Madison Human Resources in November, 2017.

4 The fire department is a unique organizational context in two important ways. First, full-time firefighters are scheduled for two 24-hour shifts per week. Thus, they can continue to work full-time and still be home five days of the week. Additionally, they have an informal system for trading work days. This system allows firefighters to swap days with their coworkers, with the expectation that they will cover for their coworker in the future. As a result, many firefighters may not have the same need to take official leave as other employees, since they are able to string together many days off without having to take leave

5 In analysis of the survey data not shown here, 6 in 10 parents said financial considerations figured in their decision about when to return to work. Results available upon request.

Additional information

Funding

This grant product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. The product was created by the recipient and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner. Grant WB-29575-16-60-A-55.

Notes on contributors

Miriam Barcus

Miriam Barcus is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research interests include gender, work, and the family as well as policy related to these areas, with a particular focus on parental leave.

Leann Tigges

Leann Tigges is a Professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research specializes on issues related to inequality and employment relations.

Jungmyung Kim

Jungmyung Kim is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research focuses on issues surrounding gender and organizations.