Parental leave has been linked to numerous positive child and family outcomes, yet little is known about which new mothers and fathers take longer parental leaves. Using structural equation modeling, we examined the financial, demographic, identity-relevant, and job characteristics that predict the duration of maternity and paternity leave in a community sample of 130 U.S. dual-earner couples who were followed across their transition to parenthood in 2008–2009. The findings show that financial characteristics, especially paid leave, are important for leave duration for both parents. In addition, identity-relevant and demographic characteristics mattered to length of paternity leave, whereas job characteristics were relevant to length of maternity leave. For fathers, longer leaves were associated with a greater proportion of paid leave, older paternal age, having a less planned pregnancy, and lower endorsement of maternal essentialism. For mothers, longer leaves were associated with a greater proportion of paid leave, higher household income, and lower job satisfaction. Together, these predictors explained 21% of the variance in maternity leave duration and 30% of the variance in paternity leave duration. In order for all U.S. parents, including fathers and low-income mothers, to reap the benefits of parental leave, financially incentivized leave would be most beneficial.

中文翻译：

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超越准入：美国产假和陪产假持续时间的预测因素

育儿假与许多积极的儿童和家庭结果有关，但很少有人知道哪些新妈妈和父亲休了更长的育儿假。使用结构方程模型，我们在 130 对美国双职工夫妇的社区样本中检查了预测产假和陪产假持续时间的财务、人口统计、身份相关和工作特征，这些夫妇在 2008 年过渡到为人父母时被跟踪—— 2009 年。研究结果表明，财务特征，尤其是带薪休假，对父母双方的休假时间都很重要。此外，身份相关和人口统计特征与陪产假的长度有关，而工作特征与产假的长度有关。对于父亲来说，更长的假期与更大比例的带薪假期有关，父亲年龄较大，怀孕计划较少，对母性本质主义的认可度较低。对于母亲来说，更长的假期与更大比例的带薪假期、更高的家庭收入和更低的工作满意度相关。这些预测因素共同解释了产假持续时间差异的 21% 和陪产假持续时间差异的 30%。为了让包括父亲和低收入母亲在内的所有美国父母都能享受育儿假的好处，经济激励假将是最有益的。这些预测因素解释了产假持续时间差异的 21% 和陪产假持续时间差异的 30%。为了让包括父亲和低收入母亲在内的所有美国父母都能享受育儿假的好处，经济激励假将是最有益的。这些预测因素解释了产假持续时间差异的 21% 和陪产假持续时间差异的 30%。为了让包括父亲和低收入母亲在内的所有美国父母都能享受育儿假的好处，经济激励假将是最有益的。