When it comes to family leave, American fathers are left behind.
In a survey of new fathers led by scientists at Northwestern University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, 64% of fathers reported taking less than two weeks of leave or no leave after the birth of their child. Only 36% of dads reported taking more than two weeks of leave. The survey is the first of a state-representative sample of fathers.
In the survey, fathers reported that the main barrier to taking any leave or longer leave was a fear of losing their job.
"We know the U.S. lags behind the rest of the world in availability of paid family leave," said corresponding study author Clarissa Simon, research associate at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and senior research scientist at Lurie Children's."We still are not there yet. What we found with this study is that if there was the availability of paid leave, fathers would have fewer barriers, and they'd take it."
The findings were published June 10 in the journal Pediatrics. They are the first to describe work-leave practices among a representative sample of all dads listed on the birth certificate in Georgia, including patterns and factors related to their paternal leave.
Previous research at Northwestern has found that new fathers play an important role in the health and wellbeing of children and families, including helping mothers breastfeed for longer durations and influencing whether an infant is placed to sleep safely.
"It's not always an easy time - you're sleep deprived, it's not fun - but it's part of being a dad," Simon said. "Fathers can and should experience the pains and the joys of parenthood, and the best way to do that is if they can take a break from work to spend time with their new baby without financial barriers or stressors like fear of job loss."
It's also valuable for fathers to be involved from the very beginning to more easily transition to fatherhood, Simon said.
"They don't go through pregnancy, so they have the baby and then they realize 'Oh, I'm a dad now,'" Simon said. "Without leave, they do not have time to fully engage with their families in this new chapter. This is one of the first data sets to be able to answer this question."
'There isn't any other data like this'
The scientists used data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System for Dads (PRAMS for Dads survey), which was created by Northwestern University's Dr. Craig Garfield and first piloted in Georgia in 2018. They analyzed answers from a representative sample of 261 fathers in the state of Georgia who were surveyed two to six months after the birth of their child (between October 2018 to July 2019).
Of the 261 respondents, 240 were employed while their infants' mother was pregnant. Of employed fathers, 73% reported taking any leave (paid or unpaid). Among fathers taking leave, 53% reported at least some paid leave.
"The research is clear in the U.S. and abroad that fathers want to be there and be involved with their newborns, and when they are there at the beginning, it predicts much greater involvement when that baby is 9 or 12 months old," said Garfield, professor of pediatrics and medical social sciences at Feinberg and a physician at Lurie Children's. "That involvement is good for the baby, good for the mom and good for the dad, too. So, if we want to ensure the best outcomes for our babies, we ought to be creating policies that support fathers from the first days of a baby's life."
"There isn't any other public health data like this," Simon said. "There is no more recent or national data other than what we're collecting right now, and there's no reason to think those results won't be repeated.
Simon and her colleagues are scaling up the survey and collecting additional data in eight states: Georgia, Ohio, North Dakota, Massachusetts, parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Maine.
Moving forward, any parent will be able to complete the survey, making it a gender-neutral survey. The goal is to reach fathers and non-birthing parents to understand the behaviors and experiences of any parent raising infants, Simon said.
More about the PRAMS for Dads survey
The survey is the first-ever public health monitoring of fathers in the period from pregnancy through the first year of the infant's life. It collects data on fathers' physical and mental health, access to health care, use of family leave, infant engagement (safe sleep, breastfeeding) and support of mom in the immediate months after the birth. And it is inclusive - meaning the survey applies to whatever family constellation exists - same-sex, cis-gender, etc.
The tool was modeled after PRAMS, an annual surveillance tool the CDC and public health departments have used for more than 35 years to survey new mothers. PRAMS for Dads is, for the first time, providing data on the unique needs of new fathers. The survey gathers data on the health behaviors and experiences of men as they enter fatherhood.
Garfield is the senior author on the study. Other Northwestern and Lurie Children's authors include Dr. John James Parker, Dr. Katherine Bean and Anne Bendelow.
Funding for the study was provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention (grant U38OT00140) and CDC 2015 Innovation Fund, Office of Science and Office of Technology and Innovation.
