COLUMBUS – The number of U.S. women taking maternity leave has not changed in 22 years despite factors that suggest it should be increasing, according to a new study by researchers at Ohio State.
During the same time, the number of fathers taking paternity leave more than tripled, although the numbers are much smaller than those of women taking time off, according to Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and research scientist at The Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research.
It is possible that the reason for the disparity lies with the fact that most of the men who took leave were paid while most of the women were not, he said.
During the period of the study, from 1994 to 2015, Zagorsky says the U.S. economy grew 66 percent and three states — California, New Jersey and Rhode Island, which together account for 16 percent of the nation’s female workforce — implemented paid family leave legislation.
“Given the growing economy and the new state laws, I expected to see an increasing number of women taking maternity leave. It was surprising and troubling that I didn’t,” Zagorsky said.
Research using data from the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, showed that about 273,000 women in the U.S. took maternity leave on average each month between 1994 and 2015, with no trend upwards or downwards, Zagorsky said.
Fewer than half of them were paid during their leave while the U.S. economy grew 66 percent during that period of time and the Family and Medical Leave Act, which took effect in 1992, granted eligible employees 12 weeks of unpaid time off during the first 12 months after birth to care for a newborn.
At the same time, Zagorsky says the number of men taking paternity leave increased from 5,800 men per month in 1994 to 22,000 per month in 2015 and more than 70 percent of those men were paid.
“One possible reason for this gender gap is that few men are willing to take unpaid leave to care for a newborn,” Zagorsky said.
The research was published Jan. 19 in the American Journal of Public Health.