Fathers' Leave, Fathers' Involvement and Child Development

Previous research has shown that fathers taking some time off work around childbirth, especiallyperiods of leave of 2 or more weeks, are more likely to be involved in childcare related activities thanfathers who do not do so. Furthermore, evidence suggests that children with fathers who are ‘moreinvolved’ perform better during the early years than their peers with less involved fathers. This paperanalyses data of four OECD countries — Australia Denmark United Kingdom United States — todescribe how leave policies may influence father’s behaviours when children are young and whether theirinvolvement translates into positive child cognitive and behavioural outcomes. This analysis shows thatfathers’ leave, father’s involvement and child development are related. Fathers who take leave, especiallythose taking two weeks or more, are more likely to carry out childcare related activities when children areyoung. This study finds some evidence that children with highly involved fathers tend to perform better interms of cognitive test scores. Evidence on the association between fathers’ involvement and behaviouraloutcomes was however weak. When data on different types of childcare activities was available, resultssuggest that the kind of involvement matters. These results suggest that what matters is the quality and notthe quantity of father-child interactions.