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Publication #FAR5048

Trends in Maternity Leave for First-Time Mothers1

Donna Davis2

The birth of a child, especially the first child, brings dramatic changes to any family. Among the many new challenges couples address is whether or not mom will work outside the home. As mothers struggle with the decision of whether or not to go to work after their child is born, they might find the most recent information from the U.S. Census enlightening.

In a 2005 report on maternity leave and employment patterns of first-time mothers, Census Bureau analysts traced the history of working mothers over the past 40 years. Among their findings: about 57% of new mothers worked full-time during their pregnancy in the late 1990s to 2000, up from 40 percent in the early 1960s. In addition, the number of women who returned to work within a year of giving birth more than doubled from the late 1980s to the end of the 1990s, to 65% (Overturf Johnson & Downs, 2005).

The census report concluded that a number of factors have contributed to women's work experience since the 1960s, including increased levels of education and waiting until later to have their first child. With these changes, women are staying at work longer during their pregnancy, are returning more rapidly after the birth of their first child, and are choosing to blend work and childrearing more than women did in the 1960s (Overturf Johnson & Downs, 2005).

Of course, today, more couples are also asking whether or not dad will work outside the home when mom is the primary wage-earner, but that's for another page in the Family Album.

Listening, learning, and living together: it's the science of life. "Family Album" is a co-production of University of Florida IFAS Extension, the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences and of WUFT-FM. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our Web site at http://www.familyalbumradio.org.

To listen to the radio broadcast:

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/311.mp3

http://www.radiosource.net/radio_stories/311.wav

Reference

Overurf Johnson, J. O., & Downs, B. (2005). Maternity leave and employment patterns of first-time mothers: 1961-2000. U.S. Census Current Population Report P70-103. Retrieved April 13, 2006, from http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p70-103.pdf.

Footnotes

1.

This document is FAR5048, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First published February 2009. In the interest of time or clarity, the broadcast version of this script may have been modified. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Donna Davis, Senior Producer, Family Album Radio, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service; Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida; Gainesville 32611. Reviewed by Suzanna Smith, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, University of Florida.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.