Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017;20(2):226-249.
doi: 10.1080/13668803.2016.1252721. Epub 2016 Nov 10.

Workplace Policies and Mental Health among Working-Class, New Parents

Maureen Perry-Jenkins  1 , JuliAnna Z Smith  1 , Lauren Page Wadsworth  1 , Hillary Paul Halpern  1
Affiliations

Workplace Policies and Mental Health among Working-Class, New Parents

Maureen Perry-Jenkins et al. Community Work Fam. 2017.

Abstract

Little research has explored linkages between workplace policies and mental health in working-class, employed parents, creating a gap in our knowledge of work-family issues across social class levels. The current U.S. study addresses this gap by employing hierarchical linear modeling techniques to examine how workplace policies and parental leave benefits predicted parents' depressive symptoms and anxiety in a sample of 125, low-income, dual-earner couples interviewed across the transition to parenthood. Descriptive analyses revealed that, on average, parents had few workplace policies, such as schedule flexibility or child care supports, available to them. Results revealed, however, that, when available, schedule flexibility was related to fewer depressive symptoms and less anxiety for new mothers. Greater child care supports predicted fewer depressive symptoms for fathers. In terms of crossover effects, longer maternal leave predicted declines in fathers' anxiety across the first year. Results are discussed with attention to how certain workplace policies may serve to alleviate new parents' lack of time and resources (minimize scarcity of resources) and, in turn, predict better mental health during the sensitive period of new parenthood.

Keywords: anxiety; depressive symptoms; parental leave; transition to parenthood; working-class; workplace policies.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Percent of Mothers using Different Types of Parental Leave Across the Transition to Parenthood
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allen TD. Family supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 2001;58:414–435.
    1. Allen TD, Lapierre LM, Spector PE, Poelmans SY, O'Driscoll M, Sanchez JI, Woo J. The link between national paid leave policy and work–family conflict among married working parents. Applied Psychology: An International Review. 2014;63(1):5–28. doi: 10.1111/apps.12004. - DOI
    1. Baltes BB, Briggs TE, Huff JW, Wright JA, Neuman GA. Flexible and compressed workweek schedules: A meta-analysis of their effect on work-related criteria. Journal of Applied Psychology. 1999;84:496–513.
    1. Barnett RC. Toward a review and reconceptualization of the work/family literature. Genetic, Social and General Psychology Monographs. 1998;124:125–182.
    1. Baughman R, DiNardi D, Holz-Eakin D. Productivity and wage effects of family-friendly fringe benefits. International Journal of Manpower. 2003;24:247–259.

LinkOut - more resources