New mothers at work: Unfinished business, the effects of paid and unpaid maternity leave

This research project examined the impact on new mothers of state and federal family and medical leave policies, specifically the six weeks of paid leave provided by Rhode Island\u27s temporary disability insurance program and the unpaid leave allowed under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. By comparing employed new mothers who have paid maternity leave benefits with employed new mothers with unpaid maternity leave, the research focused on the interrelationships between work and family using models defined in previous research to examine more fully the effect of a new public policy. Utilizing a simple survey design and 10% random sample of interviews, 85 new mothers were surveyed and 29 were interviewed in Maryland and Rhode Island. Based on the survey responses, this was a relatively affluent sample of married, educated, white women in their early thirties, who worked in fairly well-paid, full-time, day-time professional jobs in large organizations. The majority of women were having their first child. There were no significant differences between the samples in terms of personal characteristics. This study looked at eight questions related to the personal and work outcomes of new mothers using maternity leave and returning to work. While the quantitative findings were comparable to those in other studies, the type of leave was significant only in one outcome variable: length of leave