title: Work-family balance after childbirth: the association between employer-offered leave characteristics and maternity leave duration.
abstract: Early return to work after childbirth has been increasing among working mothers in the US. We assessed the relationship between access to employer-offered maternity leave (EOML) (both paid and unpaid) and uptake and duration of maternity leave following childbirth in a socio-economically diverse sample of full-time working women. We focus on California, a state that has long provided more generous maternity leave benefits than those offered by federal maternity leave policies through the State Disability Insurance program. The sample included 691 mothers who gave birth in Southern California in 2002-2003. Using weighted logistic regression, we examined the EOML-maternity leave duration relationship, controlling for whether the leave was paid, as well as other occupational, personality and health-related covariates. Compared with mothers who were offered more than 12 weeks of maternity leave, mothers with <6 weeks of EOML and those offered 6-12 weeks had five times higher odds of returning to work within 12 weeks; those offered no leave had six times higher odds of an early return. These relationships were similar after controlling for whether the leave was paid and after controlling for other occupational and health characteristics. Access to and duration of employer-offered maternity leave significantly determine timing of return to work following childbirth, potentially affecting work-family balance. Policy makers should recognize the pivotal role of employers in offering job security during and after maternity leave and consider widening the eligibility criteria of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
authors.affiliation: Maternal and Child Health Program, Division of Community Health and Human Development, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7360, USA. sylviag@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guendelman
authors.affiliation: Health Services and Policy Analysis Program, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.affiliation: Genetic Disease Screening Program, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kharrazi
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lahiff
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D016015:Logistic Models; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016524:Parental Leave / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014931:Women, Working / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult