Duration of Leave and Resident Fathers' Involvement in Infant Care in Australia

Abstract

This article uses time‐diary data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 2,157 weekday diaries; N = 2,110 weekend diaries) to examine differences in infants' time with a resident father at age 4–19 months according to fathers' duration of leave around the birth. Results showed that those infants whose fathers took 4 weeks' leave or longer spent no more time with their father than did infants whose fathers took a shorter leave or no leave. We observed a positive association between any leave and sole father care on weekend days but not weekdays. The findings suggest that moderate increases in leave duration may not promote greater father involvement in Australia.

Change in the Gender Division of Domestic Work after Mummy or Daddy Took Leave: An Examination of Alternative Explanations

“…By documenting differences between first and second birth transitions, we add an important dimension to the growing number of studies from different countries (Nepomnyaschy and Waldfogel 2007, Tanaka and Waldfogel 2007, Haas and Hwang 2008, Hosking et al 2010, Wrohlich et al 2012, Rehel 2014, Ekberg et al 2013) which provide mixed evidence as to whether fathers' leave taking results in a more equal division of child care…”

“…Studies from Sweden, Canada, and the US (Haas and Hwang 2008, Nepomnyaschy and Waldfogel 2007, Rehel 2014 found that fathers who took longer leave participated more in child care. Having taken any leave was also positively related to paternal child care involvement in the US and the UK (Tanaka andWaldfogel 2007, Pleck 1993), whereas associations with weekday and sole child care proved weak in Australia (Hosking et al 2010) and not significant in Germany (Wrohlich et al 2012, Schober 2014. These studies were mostly based on child care information collected at one point after the father had taken leave with retrospective questions on paternal leave taking.…”

“…Several countries also implemented or extended fathers' parental leave rights to encourage longer-term paternal child care involvement and to speed up maternal labour market return. Previous studies from the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Germany, Norway and Sweden provide mixed results as to whether fathers who took some leave spent more time with their children after returning to the labour market (Nepomnyaschy and Waldfogel 2007, Tanaka and Waldfogel 2007, Haas and Hwang 2008, Hosking et al 2010, Wrohlich et al 2012, Rehel 2014, Ekberg et al 2013, Kotsadam and Finseraas 2011. We contribute to the literature by exploring more in detail three potential explanations for how the durations of maternal and paternal leave take-up following childbirth relate to medium-term changes in housework and child care time in German couples.…”

Fathers on Leave Alone: Setting the Scene

“…In a further Norwegian case, it has been found that 4 weeks' exposure to the leave quota during a child's first year was associated with a 1-3 % drop in fathers' earnings over the next 5 years (Rege and Solli 2013). In an another study of duration and fathers' engagement in childcare, research in Australia has found that taking some leave (2 or 4 weeks) increased the likelihood of fathers engaging in sole care at week-ends when the child was older 4-19 months (Hosking et al 2010). Notably, studies are emerging about child outcomes of nonnormative fathers with respect to parental leave in particular countries; for instance, Flacking et al (2010) found that Swedish infants whose fathers did not take pater-nity leave in the first year were significantly less likely to be breast fed at 2 and 6 months.…”

Negotiating career progression and parenthood: family-adaptiveness in an Australian university

“…It has been shown that the provision of paid leave is associated with a greater propensity to return to work amongst leave takers -predominantly women -and thus leads to improved career prospects (Baxter, 2009;Burgess, Gregg, Propper, & Washbrook, 2008;Ulker & Guven, 2011). However, while it is important to ensure that leave policies facilitate the maintenance of attachment to the workforce for women, it is similarly important that policies facilitate fathers' attachment to their children through meaningful and substantial participation in caregiving (Allard, Haas, & Hwang, 2011;Brandth & Kvande, 2001;Haas, Allard, & Hwang, 2002;Hosking, Whitehouse, & Baxter, 2010;Wells & Sarkadi, 2012). The development of work cultures in which it is acceptable for both men and women to participate in work and care equally is an important goal (Sallee, 2012), which can be achieved in part through the provision of gender equitable leave entitlements that provide opportunities for both mothers and fathers to avail of leave (Brandth & Kvande, 2009;Haas & Hwang, 2007Ranson, 2011;.…”