DOL POLICY BRIEF
Paternity Leave
Why Parental Leave For Fathers
Is So Important For Working Families
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Although paid leave is often framed as an issue that
matters to working women, paid parental leave is also
critically important for fathers. Policies that ensure
fathers have the support they need to prioritize their
family responsibilities, while also meeting work demands,
can signi
cantly increase the personal and economic well-
being of their families. Paternity leave – and especially
longer leaves of several weeks or months – can promote
parent-child bonding, improve outcomes for children, and
even increase gender equity at home and at the workplace.
Paid parental leave for fathers, as well as for mothers,
provides a real advantage to working families.
Despite these advantages, fathers still face economic
and social barriers that keep them from taking longer
paternity leaves, such as inadequate access to paid leave
and outdated workplace norms about male breadwinners.
Here in the United States where parental leave is already
too rare, social and cultural biases along with gaps in
policy make fathers even less able to access time away
from work for their children. Paid paternity leave is less
likely to be oered by employers than maternity leave,
and may not always be taken even if oered. For two-dad
families, and the increasing number of fathers who are
serving as stay at home parents, addressing this unequal
access and uptake is particularly important.
1
Workers
often face tension in balancing their roles as workers
and parents, since there can be adverse consequences
to prioritizing family over work or work over family.
Empowering more dads with paid parental leave
means they can achieve their professional goals and be
supportive, nurturing fathers and partners.
is is an area where paid leave policy is evolving on the
international stage, although even in other countries
that have made much greater strides to oer robust and
generous maternity leave policies, paternity leave lags
behind. (Fewer than half the countries in the world provide
men with access to paid leave to care for a new child, while
virtually all provide paid maternity leave.
2
) But innovative
new eorts to boost fathers’ use of parental leave are
accelerating a cultural change and breaking down gender
stereotypes about work and family.
Best practices to support increased access to and use
of parental leave by fathers include making leave paid,
educating workers and employers about the benets
of paternity leave, and structuring leave programs to
incentivize fathers taking leave and be more inclusive of
all parents. e combination of better economic supports
and changing cultural norms can ensure all families can
benet from paternity leave.
2 million U.S.
fathers were
stay at home
dads in 2012.
1
DOL fathers and their children.
Secretary Perez: “Fathers taking parental
leave helps not just children but moms, too,
by changing who changes the diapers and the
whole culture around work and family.”
Nine out of ten
U.S. fathers took
some time o work
for the birth or
adoption of a child.
Paid parental leave for men is more
limited than for women.
Fathers typically take time o but take very short
leaves. While survey data shows that nine out of ten U.S.
fathers take some time o work for the birth or adoption
of a child, seventy percent of fathers take ten days of
leave or less.
3
In other countries, paid paternity leave is
also typically substantially shorter than paid maternity
leave. Some nations provide couples with shared parental
leave (a period of paid and/or unpaid parental leave that
the parents may divide as they choose) and under that
system men tend not to utilize the shared leave as much as
women or use only relatively small amounts.
4
Access to paid paternity leave in the United States
is rare. Although most workers have no access to
paid parental leave at all, more employers provide
paid maternity leave than paid paternity leave. A 2012
Department of Labor study found that fewer employers
oer paid parental leave for men than for women, and
also that fewer men report receiving paid parental leave
than women. (Only 13 percent of men who took parental
leave received pay compared with 21 percent for women).
5
ree states – California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island –
provide paid family leave to both mothers and fathers on
an equal basis.
When fathers take paternity leave –
especially when they take longer leaves
– it can lead to better outcomes for their
children and the whole family.
Longer paternity leaves are associated with
increased father engagement and bonding. Longer
leaves mean dads have more time to bond with a new
child, and will be more involved in caring for their children
right from the start. is hands-on engagement can set a
pattern that lasts long after the leave ends. For example,
in one study of working fathers in the U.S., those who took
leaves of two weeks or more were much more likely to be
actively involved in their child’s care nine months after
birth – including feeding, changing diapers, and getting up
in the night.
6
Studies from other countries have conrmed
that fathers who take more paternity leave have higher
satisfaction with parenting and increased engagement in
caring for their children.
7
Increased engagement leads to improved health and
development outcomes for children. We also know
that when fathers are more engaged with their children,
their children have better developmental outcomes.
is includes fewer behavioral problems and improved
cognitive and mental health outcomes.
8
A study of four
OECD countries, including the United States, found
evidence suggesting that longer paternity leaves and
increased time fathers spent caring for their very young
children is associated with higher cognitive test scores for
their children.
9
Seven in ten
U.S. fathers taking
parental leave
took ten days of
leave or less.
2
Families with fathers who take more leave also share
chores and childcare more equally between mothers
and fathers. One of the more interesting emerging new
research ndings is that increasing paternity leave may
also change longstanding cultural norms about gender,
work and household responsibilities. When men increase
their use of paternity leave, time studies show that the
amount of household work fathers and mothers perform
may become more gender balanced over time, with the men
spending longer amounts of time per day on household
chores and childcare.
10
is means that increasing how
much parental leave fathers take can change the culture in
ways that make it more gender-equal.
Paternity leave reduces work-family conict for
fathers. Fathers are increasingly concerned about work-
life balance, and nearly half of men surveyed report that
the demands of work interfere with family life.
11
Paid leave
makes it easier for fathers, like mothers, to better balance
their responsibilities at work and at home.
When fathers take leave, it can increase employment
and pay for mothers. Finally, when fathers take more
paternity leave, it may increase the ability of mothers to
engage in paid work, with a positive eect on female labor
force participation and wages. One new study of paternity
leave in Canada found that when fathers take more
paternity leave, mothers increase their level of full-time
work, and another study from Sweden found increasing
the amount of paternity leave men take has similar
positive impacts on women’s labor force participation.
12
If this increase in work by mothers brings in more
household income, it is good for the whole family.
Yet fathers who want to take advantage
of these benets often face economic
and cultural barriers to taking more
paternity leave.
Many workers cut leave short for economic reasons.
Many parents cannot aord to take any unpaid time
o work. Nearly half of workers surveyed in 2012 who
needed leave but didn’t take it reported not taking leave
for economic reasons.
13
More than three in ten individuals
who received partial or no pay reported cutting their leave
short of what was needed, and more than four in ten
would have taken longer leaves if they had received more
pay.
14
For two parent families, when mothers may already
be taking unpaid leave for a new baby, keeping a father’s
paycheck coming in may be critical – and having dads take
unpaid time o
is simply not an option.
Our workplace culture, and the male breadwinner
norm, is a barrier for men seeking to take more
extended paternity leaves. Even where men have access
to paid leave, they might still cut their leaves short to
avoid being perceived as less dedicated employees. One
recent survey of highly educated professional fathers –
who had more access to paid parental leave than most
U.S. workers – found a substantial portion took less than
the full amount of paid leave available. In that survey,
fathers cited workplace pressures as a factor in the length
of leave they took.
15
Other studies have found that fathers
who reduce their work hours or leave work for family
reasons may incur a “flexibility stigma.”
16
48% of men
working full time
reported job
demands interfered
with family life
sometimes or often.
3
Increasing paid leave, and innovative
strategies to break down cultural
barriers, can have a big impact on how
much paternity leave fathers take.
Expanding paid leave. California’s paid family leave
program shows how broad and equal access to paid parental
leave for mothers and fathers can substantially increase
the number of fathers taking leave. is program more
than doubled the odds that men would take paid parental
leave after the birth of a child, and the proportion of men
ling claims for bonding leave increased from 17% in the
rst year to 26% after ve years.
17
California employers
also reported an increase in men taking leave as well as an
increase in the amount of leave they took, and the median
length of leave was higher for men who used paid family
leave than for those who did not.
18
In surveys men report
they are much more likely to take leave if it is paid.
19
Dedicated leave programs for dads. Some European
countries and the Canadian province of Quebec have
begun oering up to several months of paid parental
leave specically designated for fathers, instead of
providing couples with shared parental leave to divide as
they choose. Fathers with access to paid parental leave
designated specically for fathers take paternity leave at
higher rates than those where leave is discretionary for
either parent – especially when that leave also has higher
levels of income replacement.
20
Employer Best Practices. When the work culture is
supportive, fathers are more likely to take leave and
to take longer leaves.
21
Some employers are leading on
paternity leave, including major tech rms that typically
oer between 6 and 17 weeks of paid paternity leave.
22
Paid paternity leave may be a key workplace benet for
retaining high-skilled workers. In a 2014 study of highly
educated professional fathers in the U.S., nine of out ten
reported that it would be important when looking for a
new job that the employer oered paid parental leave, and
six out of ten considered it very or extremely important.
ese numbers were even higher for millennial workers.
23
4
CHANGE IN MEN TAKING LEAVE IN CALIFORNIA
AFTER PAID FAMILY LEAVE ADOPTED
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Odds of men taking
paid
parental leave,
1997-2004
Odds of men taking
paid p
arental leave,
2005-2009
Endnotes
1
Two million men were stay at home dads in 2012. Pew Social Trends, “Growing Number of Dads Home With the Kids,” retrieved from
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/ (last visited June 17, 2015).
2
79 of 167 countries have legislation providing paternity leave. International Labor Organization. 2014. Maternity and Paternity at Work: Law and
Practice Across the World. Geneva: International Labour Oce at 51.
3
89 percent of fathers took some leave, based on a 2007 study of resident U.S. fathers in opposite sex two-parent households using data from the
2001 Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort. Lenna Nepomnyaschy and Jane Waldfogel. 2007. “Paternity Leave and Fathers’ Involve-
ment with eir Young Children: Evidence from the American Ecls–B.” Community, Work & Family 10(4): 427-453. Harrington, et al found in a
2014 survey of highly paid professional U.S. fathers that only about 5% took no paternity leave, but over 80% took two weeks of leave or less. Brad
Harrington, et al. 2014. e New Dad: Take Your Leave. Boston College Center for Work and Family, retrieved from:
http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/les/centers/cwf/news/pdf/BCCWF%20e%20New%20Dad%202014%20FINAL.pdf (last visited June 17,
2015). A 2012 Department of Labor survey found that 70 percent of men taking leave for parental reasons took 10 days or less. Jacob Alex Kler-
man, et al. 2012. Family and Medical Leave in 2012: Technical Report. (Prepared for U.S. Department of Labor.) Cambridge: Abt Associates, at 141.
Nepomnyashy and Waldfogel (at 433-37) similarly nd paternity leaves in the U.S. are short and that two thirds of fathers take less than two weeks
of leave.
4
ILO (2014); OECD. 2014. Trends in Leave Entitlements Around Childbirth No. PF2.5, retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/social/family/database.htm (last visited June 17, 2015); Margaret O’Brien. 2009. “Fathers, Parental Leave and Infant Quality
of Life: International Perspectives and Policy Impacts.” e ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 624: 190-213.
5
Klerman (2012) at 135 (a third of employees work at worksites that oer paid maternity leave to all or most female employees versus 20% for
male employees) and at 143 (13% of men report receiving pay for parental leave compared with 20% of women).
6
Nepomnyaschy and Waldfogel (2007) at 442-45.
7
Maria Del Carmen Huerta, et al. 2013. “Fathers’ Leave, Fathers’ Involvement and Child Development: Are ey Related? Evidence from Four
OECD Countries.” OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 140, retrieved from
http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/fathers-leave-fathers-involvement-and-child-development_5k4dlw9w6czq-en (last
visited June 17. 2015); Linda Hass and C. Philip Hwang. 2008. “e Impact of Taking Parental Leave on Fathers’ Participation in Childcare and
Relationships with Children: Lessons from Sweden.” Community, Work and Family 11(1): 85-104; Sakiko Tanaka and Jane Waldfogel. 2007. “Eects
of Parental Leave and Work Hours on Fathers’ Involvement With eir Babies: Evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study.” Community, Work and
Family 10(4): 409-426.
8
Huerta, et al (2013); Nepomnyaschy and Waldfogel (2007); Anna Sarkadi, et al. 2008. “Fathers Involvement and Children’s Developmental
Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies.” Acta Pediatrica 97: 153-158; Erini Flouri and Ann Buchanan. 2002. “e Role of Father
Involvement in Children’s Later Mental Health.” Journal of Adolescence 26: 63-78.
9
Huerta, et al (2013).
10
Ankita Patnaik. 2015. “Reserving Time for Daddy: e Short and Long Run Consequences of Fathers’ Quotas.” SSRN Working Paper, retrieved
from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2475970&download=yes (last visited June 17, 2015). See also Makiko Fuwa and Phillip
N. Cohen. 2007. “Housework and Social Policy.” Social Science Research 36: 512-530.
11
2010 General Social Survey data reported by Council of Economic Advisors. CEA Calculations in Council of Economics Advisors. 2014. e Eco-
nomics of Paid and Unpaid Leave at 7, retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/les/docs/leave_report_nal.pdf (last visited June
17, 2015).
12
Patnaik (2015); Elly-Ann Johansson. 2010. “e Eect of Own and Spousal Parental Leave on Earnings,” Institute for Labour Market Policy Evalu-
ation Working Paper 2010:4, retrieved from http://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/45782/1/623752174.pdf (last visited June 17, 2015).
13
Klerman, et al (2012) at 127.
14
Klerman, et al (2012) at 105-106.
15
Harrington, et al (2014) at 8-9.
16
Scott Coltrane, et al. 2013. “Fathers and the Flexibility Stigma.” Journal of Social Issues 69(2): 279-302.
17
Linda Houser & omas P. Vartanian. 2012. Policy Matters: Public Policy, Paid Leave for Workers, and Economic Security for U.S. Parents. Report of
the Rutgers Center for Women and Work at 14; Eileen Appelbaum and Ruth Milkman. 2011. Leaves at Pay: Employer and Worker Experiences With
Paid Family Leave in California. Center for Economic and Policy Research at 18.
18
Appelbaum and Milkman (2011) at 23.
19
Harrington, et al (2014) at 8-10.
20
O’Brien (2009) at 199. For example, in Quebec, establishing a nontransferable period of paternity leave in 2006 doubled fathers’ leave taking —
from 22 to 50 percent, and by 2011 that had risen to 84 percent. Andrea Doucet. 2009. “Dad and Baby in the First Year: Gendered Responsibilities
and Embodiment.” e ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 624: 78; see also Patnaik (2015).
21
Harrington, et al (2014) at 7-8.
22
Nanette Fondas. May 1, 2013. “Marissa Meyer’s Potential Revolutionary Paternity Leave Policy. e Atlantic, retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/marissa-mayers-potentially-revolutionary-paternity-leave-policy/275468/ (last visited June
17, 2015); Dana Liebelson. May 28, 2015. “Can Facebook and Reddit Fix America’s Maternity Leave Problem?” Mother Jones, retrieved from
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/05/silicon-valley-maternity-leave-paternity-leave (last visited June 17, 2015).
23
Harrington, et al (2014) at 6.
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