PATERNITY LEAVE AND FATHERS' INVOLVEMENT WITH THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN

Lenna Nepomnyaschy, Jane Waldfogel
2007 Community, Work and Family  
Unlike many European countries, the United States has no national paternity leave policy giving fathers the right to take paid time off work following the birth (or adoption) of a child. Despite this, prior research suggests that many fathers do take some time off work after a child is born. However, little is known about the determinants, circumstances, or consequences of paternal leave-taking. In this paper, we use the first two waves of data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth
more » ... ohort (ECLS-B), a new nationally representative panel study of over 10,000 children born in 2001, to examine these questions. The ECLS-B is uniquely suited for these analyses because it includes a battery of questions about a broad range of activities in which fathers can participate with their children and these questions are asked directly of the father. Additionally, the ECLS-B contains a rich set of other measures about the father, mother child and the family's socioeconomic circumstances.
doi:10.1080/13668800701575077 fatcat:55iehikwfffabprz72w5iyauwi