How Paternity Leave Helps Dads’ Brains Adapt to Parenting

Paternity leave can level the playing field for working mothers. Many fathers emerged from the experience feeling like “being at home, with a strong presence of mind, allowed me to reduce stress on my wife and for her to return to the workforce earlier.” As one father put it, “It’s not just about getting to know your kids at a crucial age but also ... See more

With a renewed sense of priorities, some fathers started to make positive changes in their work lives. One said that it led to “changing my network to work more closely with other parents who have similar focus, identifying sponsors who can help plan a path back that balances both family and career.” Some suggested that taking paternity leave may h... See more

Parenting together in the first days, weeks, or months of a child’s life is instrumental in shaping family dynamics, our survey showed.

“The beginning of becoming parents was a very important time to be together,” one father said. “We both learned together about the baby, how to raise a child, and the approach we would take as parents and how to be ... See more

The benefits of paternity leave begin in the home. Ninety percent of the men we interviewed noticed an improvement in their relationship with their partner. And their partners also felt that the support was critical to forging a stronger bond. “I think I would have resented him if he had been at work and I would have had to do all of this alone,” o... See more

Overall, however, we found that mothers gained most when men took paid paternity leave. Women whose partners took paid leave did not show the same rise in stress and in symptoms of depression as moms in the unpaid-leave group. In other words, men’s paid leave buffered risks to their partners’ mental health after birth.

These results dovetail with ot... See more