Justine_Weir_ResearchDesign

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1 Research Study Design Justine Weir Simmons University SWO 441: Social Work Research Dr. Stacey Little May 31 st , 2023

2 Introduction Every year there’s many families welcoming new children. When adding a new child to a family, there’s many supports necessary to make the transition smoother for the family as a whole. One of those things is time off of work. For mothers, time off is meant to be to heal physically mostly although there’s significant other benefits to taking time off after birth. There’s been many studies done on benefits of time off for mothers post birth as well as to the infants when their mothers take time off. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been as many studies done to show the impacts of paid leave for both parents and how that impacts the family unit. It’s commonly known how lacking the United States’ parental leave policies are. The United States was ranked 20 th out of 21 for time allowed and was one of only 2 countries that don’t offer paid leave in one study done of 21 countries. (Ray et al., 2008, p.7) In an article published by the BBC in 2021, “only 21% of US workers have access to paid family leave through their employers, even though, according to the Pew Research Center in 2015, both parents work full-time in almost half all two-parent families” (Arneson, 2022). The current federal policy only covers for 12 weeks protected unpaid time off for employees who worked 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior for a covered employer which limits the job security for parents even more. ( Family Medical Leave Act , 1993) There’s been many different studies done on paid leave, the amount of time actually taken off, and the importance of the time during postpartum but there’s still a gap that could be filled. One study mentions that majority of American parents don’t take the full 12 weeks off with about 90 percent of fathers take some time off after birth with a majority taking less than two weeks off and about half of the women returning within two months. (Barcus et al., 2019) A significant time off from work for all middle- and working-class parents could lead to an important amount of time to bond with the new baby as well as adjust to the new normal for the

3 household. The time after birth can be a whirlwind and stressful time for parents and by allowing paid time off for both parents, would allow for both parents to potentially be able to bond with the new child but also as a whole. Methods Study Design & Sampling For the purpose of this study, it would be beneficial to take a qualitative approach due to the many factors involved as well as understanding that ‘bonding’ is not very easily measured and is based off of experience. Criteria for this research design would be very specific and therefore would fall under the criterion and convenience-based sampling. In order for a clearer understanding of the benefits and effects of paid leave, participants would need to be from a two- parent household where either both or one of the parents is working outside of the home. There will be two different groups: one group where the non-birthing parent’s company offers paid parental leave and one group where the non-birthing parent’s company doesn’t offer paid parental leave. Due to the limiting companies that do offer paid leave, it would be beneficial to have the families coming from similar areas in the United States to get a better picture of the effects of leave as well as ensuring both companies are larger in size. The focus would also be specifically on middle to lower class income families as they are the families that could and would benefit the most from paid family leave. Data Collection Once potential participants have been identified, researchers will need to present the IRB consent form and ensure that it is properly understood and accepted. From there, the non-birthing partners would be given an intentional survey. On the initial survey, they would be asking 1) how much time are they allowed to take off? 2) how much time do they plan to take off for the birth

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4 of their child? 3) is it paid or not paid? 4) if it’s not paid from the company directly, how will this time be covered? After the child has been born and the non-birthing partner has returned to work, the Human Resource employee or manager would then interview the non-birthing partner. They would be asked 1) how much time did you end up taking off? 2) what effected your decision to take as much or as little time as you did? 3) do you wish you could’ve taken more time off? 4) how do you believe that the time off that you did or didn’t take off effect your bond with your new baby? 5) how do you believe that the time off that you did or didn’t take effected your household? Once the non-birthing partner has gone back to work, the birthing partner would then be asked by either their Human Resource professional or a counselor their viewpoints about their non-birthing partner in regard to similar questions: 1) How much time did you hope they would take off? 2) Do you wish your partner would’ve taken more or less time off? 3) How do you view the bond between your partner and your new baby? 4) how did the time off effect the dynamic of the household? 5) do you think that more time off would’ve been beneficial to that bond or the dynamic of the entire household? Measurement and Analysis Once all surveys and interviews have been collected, then the data would be analyzed. Each response would be categorized by the responses based off their answers and their groups. For the families that had a non-birthing partner whose company didn’t offer paid leave, factors on what resulted in the time off and how they and their partner felt that affected their bond with their baby. The same analysis would be done for the participants that worked for a company that offered paid leave. The researchers utilizing the study would then need to compare the data to compare how families felt the bond was based on the leave taken. Discussion

5 Limitations and Feasibility Unfortunately, there are significant limitations within being able to properly carry out this research design. The United States doesn’t currently have a policy for paid family leave and the only family leave policy there is covers twelve weeks of unpaid leave for either person but is typically taken by only the birthing parent. Which many studies have been done on birthing parents taking time off and the benefits of doing so. Due to the strict criteria needed for the sampling design, there are many moving parts that require being approved by the different participants. It is possible and feasible, but it will not be a very easy study to be done. It would also need to take an extended amount of time to properly collect enough data as well as analyze the data so both participants and those conducting interviews would need to commit long term. Translation to Practice Once the study has been properly completed, it will be able to provide a better insight in the importance of an extended paid family leave for both parents after the birth of a child. This will allow practitioners, law makers, and employers alike implement new policies and practices in order to better support middle- and lower-class working families to adjust to having a child. It will also help to understand the importance of non-birthing parents having time to adjust as well and potentially help with the overall adjustment for families without ending up experiencing significant financial loss. Ethical Considerations This study is a great example of Social Work Code of Ethics by the fact that it focuses on the importance of human relationships but also the dignity and worth of a person. It focuses on not only the importance of a non-birthing parent taking time off to bond with their new child but also to adjust with their partner. While the main focus of the study is to see the correlation of

6 paid leave to bonding with a new child for a non-birthing parent, it also emphasizes the fact that non-birthing parents are just as needed in the early weeks and months after a child is born. The ability to get a proper sample will provide limitations in being able to get a good representative sample. This will affect the ability to have a study that does the population proper social justice. Conclusion While there are many factors and limitations to this study design, it’s one that the United States and families as a whole could benefit from. It will provide some much-needed insight on the importance of non-birthing parents being present during the early times of a child’s life and how the bond between the two is impacted. This will also allow for there to be a dive into the effects of paid leave on more than just the birthing parent. With proper supports and implementations, this study could do some real social justice for non-birthing parents and their families.

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7 References Arneson, K. (2022, February 25). Why doesn't the US have mandated paid maternity leave? BBC Worklife. Retrieved April 22, 2023, from https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210624- why-doesnt-the-us-have-mandated-paid-maternity-leave Barcus, M., Tigges, L., & Kim, J. (2019) Time to care: socioeconomic, family, and workplace factors in men and women’s parental leave use, Community, Work & Family, 22:4, 443- 464, DOI: 10.1080/13668803.2019.1629876 Family Medical Leave Act, U.S.C § 103-3 (1993). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1832/pdf/COMPS-1832.pdf Ray, R., Gornick, J. C., & Schmitt, J. (2008, September). Parental leave policies in 21 countries - cepr.net . Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/parental_2008_09.pdf

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