Petts Richard J, Knoester Chris, Waldfogel Jane
Department of Sociology, Ball State University.
Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University.
Sex Roles. 2020 Feb;82(3-4):173-188. doi: 10.1007/s11199-019-01050-y. Epub 2019 May 4.
Paternity leave-taking is believed to benefit children by encouraging father-child bonding after a birth and enabling commitments to fathers' engagement. Yet, no known U.S. studies have directly focused on the associations between paternity leave-taking and children's reports of father-child relationships. Understanding the potential consequences of paternity leave-taking in the United States is particularly important given the lack of a national paid parental leave policy. The present study uses five waves of data on 1,319 families, largely socioeconomically disadvantaged, from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to analyze the associations between paternity leave-taking and 9-year-old children's reports of their father-child relationships. We also assess the extent to which these associations are mediated by fathers' engagement, co-parenting quality, parental relationship satisfaction, and fathers' identities. Results indicate that leave-taking, and particularly 2 weeks or more of leave, is positively associated with children's perceptions of fathers' involvement, father-child closeness, and father-child communication. The associations are explained, at least in part, by fathers' engagement, parental relationship satisfaction, and father identities. Overall, results highlight the linked lives of fathers and their children, and they suggest that increased attention on improving opportunities for parental leave in the United States may help to strengthen families by nurturing higher quality father-child relationships.
人们认为，休陪产假有助于促进孩子出生后父子之间的亲密关系，并使父亲能够履行参与育儿的承诺，从而造福孩子。然而，美国尚无已知研究直接关注陪产假与孩子对父子关系的报告之间的关联。鉴于美国缺乏全国性的带薪育儿假政策，了解陪产假在美国可能产生的后果尤为重要。本研究利用脆弱家庭与儿童福利研究中1319个家庭的五轮数据进行分析，这些家庭大多在社会经济方面处于不利地位，旨在分析陪产假与9岁儿童对父子关系的报告之间的关联。我们还评估了这些关联在多大程度上是由父亲的参与度、共同育儿质量、父母关系满意度以及父亲身份所介导的。结果表明，休陪产假，尤其是休两周或更长时间的陪产假，与孩子对父亲参与度、父子亲密程度以及父子沟通的认知呈正相关。这些关联至少部分是由父亲的参与度、父母关系满意度和父亲身份所解释的。总体而言，研究结果凸显了父亲与孩子生活的紧密联系，并表明在美国加大对改善育儿假机会的关注，可能有助于通过培养更高质量的父子关系来加强家庭建设。
