Employment Leave and Fathers’ Involvement with Children

Abstract

Employment leave patterns, factors affecting these patterns, and the impact on involvement with children were assessed for fathers in thirty-eight couples. Parents completed self-administered questionnaires on work schedule changes after the arrival of a baby, reactions to these changes, child care activities, and attitudes. An average of the mother's and the father's assessments for the twenty-one items and index were used to measure fathers’ involvement. Almost half of the fathers took some leave, but few utilized parental leave benefits. White non-Hispanic fathers who shared equalitarian beliefs with mothers were the most likely to take leave. Fathers who took leave were more likely to share some child care tasks with mothers than were fathers who did not take leave, but no differences were found for time spent or taking responsibility for child care. Holding equalitarian beliefs, the amount and source of income, education, and hours worked were predictive of greater involvement.