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Policies that support working parents and gender health equity: needed research and methodological challenges
Editorial   Open access

Policies that support working parents and gender health equity: needed research and methodological challenges

Alina Schnake-Mahl and Jaquelyn Jahn
American journal of epidemiology, kwae223
16 Jul 2024
PMID: 39013782
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwae223View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified) Open

Abstract

causal inference paid leave parental leave employment policy structural inequities
In a recent issue of the Journal, Platt et al (Am J Epidemiol. 2024;193(10):1362-1371) shed new light on the potential for supportive employment benefits, including family leave, flexible work hours, and employer-provided or subsidized childcare, to mitigate the risk of depression among full-time working mothers. The authors used a longitudinal study design and rigorous methods to carefully consider potential sources of bias, and, more broadly, their article underscores the importance of employment benefits as a social determinant of mental health for working mothers. In this commentary, we discuss some of the policy context surrounding employer benefits that support parenting, particularly around paid versus unpaid family leave laws and ordinances. We consider the ways in which the policy context affects larger structural inequities and the potential implications for internal and external validity.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#5 Gender Equality
#10 Reduced Inequalities

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Web of Science research areas
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
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