Paid Family Leave | More Resources

Publications

Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns of First-Time Mothers: 1961–2003

02.01.2008 | According to a new study released just days ago by the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of American mothers cobble together some sort of paid leave following childbirth by using a combination of sick days, vacation days, disability leave, and employer-provided maternity leave. | Read (Washington Policy Watch) | Read (Full Report)

Flexible Work and Well-Being Study

10.01.2007 | University of Minnesota | Researchers have just released a report highlighting two years of work looking at a program at Best Buy called Results Only Work Environment (ROWE). One of the several goals of the study was to determine if working in a ROWE environment reduces tension between individuals' work and family/personal lives. | Read

Family Values at Work: It’s About Time!
Why We Need Minimum Standards to Ensure a Family-Friendly Workplace

09.26.2007 | Documents the consequences for workers, families, businesses and the nation when family values end at the workplace door, and lays out a policy agenda including a minimum number of paid sick days for routine illnesses as well as a family leave insurance fund to provide income during longer-term leaves for a new baby or serious health condition. | Read

Importing Success: Why Work-Life Family Policies from Abroad Make Sense for the U.S.

06.14.2007 | Government Accountability Office | Findings from a new report on policies used abroad to help workers - especially women - balance the competing demands of employment and care-giving responsibilities. | Read

2005 National Study of Employers, Families and Work Institute

09.06.2005 | Families and Work Institute’s 2005 National Study of Employers (NSE) is the most comprehensive and far-reaching study of the practices, policies, programs and benefits provided by U.S. employers to address the changing needs of today’s workforce and workplace. Because this study was designed to build on the Institute’s landmark 1998 Business Work-Life Study (BWLS), it also provides trend data on changes that have occurred over the past seven years. | Executive Summary | Full Report

Maternity leave, early maternal employment and child health and development in the US

02.01.2005 | Royal Economic Society | In the US context, there is considerable evidence that child developmental outcomes are generally better if mothers do not work, or do not work full-time, in the first year of life. Children whose mothers returned to work within 12 weeks are 2.4% less likely to receive welkl-baby care, 7.5% less likely to be breastfed, 3.4% less likely to receive all of their immunizations. They are also breastfed for about 4.5 fewer weeks. Children of women who returned to full-time work within 12 weeks post birth had 12 % more behavioral problems at ages 3 and 4. | Read

Symposium on Parental Leave, Early Maternal Employment and Child Outcomes

02.01.2005 | Royal Economic Society | Finds that children whose mothers stay out {of the workplace} for more than 12 weeks are more likely to be breastfed, are breast fed longer, are more likely to be fully immunized, and are more likely to receive recommended preventative (well-baby) care. Further notes that extending leave by 10 weeks will reduce infant mortality by 2.6%, and extending paid leave to 12 months could reduce infant mortality rates by 13.6% in the US. | Read

Parental leave and child health

03.08.2000 | Journal of Health Economics | Rights to parental leave are associated with substantial decreases in pediatric mortality, and the evidence indicates that parental leave may be a cost-effective method of bettering child health. A 10 week increase in paid leave is predicted to reduce infant mortality rates between 2.5 and 3.4% . Rights to a year of job-protected paid leave are associated with roughly a 20% decline in post neonatal death and a 15% decrease in fatalities occurring between the first and fifth birthdays. By contrast, unpaid leave is unrelated to infant mortality. | Read

Links

  • Workplace Flexibility 2010 | Visit
  • Labor Project for Working Families | Visit
  • Washington State Department of Labor and Industries | Visit
  • National Partnership for Women and Families | Visit
  • Institute for Women's Policy Research | Visit
  • Momsrising | Visit
  • Center for Policy Alternatives | Visit
  • California Paid Family Leave | Visit
  • U.S. Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration Wage and Hour Division Compliance Assistance — Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) | Visit
  • National Employment Law Project | Visit