Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – A new study reveals that extended paternity leave can significantly enhance the co-parenting dynamic between mothers and fathers.
The research indicates that when fathers take more time off following the birth of their child, mothers are less likely to hinder their involvement in childcare.
Reed Donithen, the study’s lead author and a doctoral student in developmental psychology at The Ohio State University, indicated that, when fathers take extended leave, mothers may interpret it as a sign that fathers are more committed to being active parents, making them less likely to discourage their involvement in child care.
Moreover, the study’s co-author, Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, a psychology professor at Ohio State and president of the Council on Contemporary Families, noted that longer paternity leave is associated with a shift in how mothers view fathers’ roles in child care.
As fathers take more time off after their child is born, mothers tend to loosen their unrealistic expectations of fathers’ parenting abilities and become less influenced by others’ opinions on their maternal performance.
Schoppe-Sullivan pointed out that changing people’s attitudes is challenging, but extended paternity leave seems to not only influence how mothers respond to fathers’ involvement in child care but also reshapes their perceptions of parental roles, which she indicated is encouraging.
The findings appeared recently in the journal Sex Roles.
The researchers utilized data from the New Parents Project, a long-term study led by Schoppe-Sullivan that explores how dual-income couples adapt to parenthood and how families and children evolve over time. The study involved 182 couples, most of whom were married, white, highly educated, and from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.
The parents were evaluated four times: once when the mother was in her third trimester of pregnancy, and then again when the baby was 3, 6, and 9 months old.
At the 9-month mark, both mothers and fathers answered questions regarding “maternal gatekeeping,” which refers to how mothers either encourage or restrict the father’s involvement in child-rearing.
They were asked how often mothers facilitated fathers’ participation by engaging in “gate-opening” actions, such as seeking the father’s opinion on parenting decisions. They were also asked about instances where mothers practiced “gate-closing” behaviors, such as criticizing the father’s approach.
When fathers took extended leave, both mothers and fathers agreed that mothers were less likely to engage in gate-closing behaviors. However, the researchers were surprised to find that this didn’t result in more gate-opening actions by the mothers.
One possible explanation, according to Donithen, is that societal beliefs still place the expectation on mothers to take the lead in child care.
“Mothers may think they are the default main parent and so they don’t go out of their way to encourage dads to get more involved,” he explained.
Schoppe-Sullivan presents an optimistic perspective, suggesting that mothers observe fathers who take extended paternity leave as being more engaged in parenting and feel that additional encouragement for fathers’ involvement is unnecessary.
A notable strength of the study lies in the researchers’ control over various other factors that could account for the increased involvement of fathers who take longer leave. These include psychological aspects of both mothers and fathers, as well as socioeconomic status.
Researchers of the study concluded that the findings indicate that extended paternity leave could initiate a series of changes that help alleviate the childcare responsibilities that typically fall on new mothers.
“A lot of research on the transition to parenthood suggests that nearly all couples fall into this trap of having unequal roles – even highly educated, two-earner couples like those in our study,” Schoppe-Sullivan added.
The findings may serve as a key reference for policymakers on the importance of granting more paternity leave which is usually much less than maternity leave in many parts of the world when available.
