Justine_Weir_ResearchDesign

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1 Research Study Design Justine Weir Simmons University SWO 441: Social Work Research Dr. Stacey Little May 31 st , 2023

2 Introduction Every year there’s many families welcoming new children. When adding a new child to a family, there’s many supports necessary to make the transition smoother for the family as a whole. One of those things is time off of work. For mothers, time off is meant to be to heal physically mostly although there’s significant other benefits to taking time off after birth. There’s been many studies done on benefits of time off for mothers post birth as well as to the infants when their mothers take time off. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been as many studies done to show the impacts of paid leave for both parents and how that impacts the family unit. It’s commonly known how lacking the United States’ parental leave policies are. The United States was ranked 20 th out of 21 for time allowed and was one of only 2 countries that don’t offer paid leave in one study done of 21 countries. (Ray et al., 2008, p.7) In an article published by the BBC in 2021, “only 21% of US workers have access to paid family leave through their employers, even though, according to the Pew Research Center in 2015, both parents work full-time in almost half all two-parent families” (Arneson, 2022). The current federal policy only covers for 12 weeks protected unpaid time off for employees who worked 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior for a covered employer which limits the job security for parents even more. ( Family Medical Leave Act , 1993) There’s been many different studies done on paid leave, the amount of time actually taken off, and the importance of the time during postpartum but there’s still a gap that could be filled. One study mentions that majority of American parents don’t take the full 12 weeks off with about 90 percent of fathers take some time off after birth with a majority taking less than two weeks off and about half of the women returning within two months. (Barcus et al., 2019) A significant time off from work for all middle- and working-class parents could lead to an important amount of time to bond with the new baby as well as adjust to the new normal for the

3 household. The time after birth can be a whirlwind and stressful time for parents and by allowing paid time off for both parents, would allow for both parents to potentially be able to bond with the new child but also as a whole. Methods Study Design & Sampling For the purpose of this study, it would be beneficial to take a qualitative approach due to the many factors involved as well as understanding that ‘bonding’ is not very easily measured and is based off of experience. Criteria for this research design would be very specific and therefore would fall under the criterion and convenience-based sampling. In order for a clearer understanding of the benefits and effects of paid leave, participants would need to be from a two- parent household where either both or one of the parents is working outside of the home. There will be two different groups: one group where the non-birthing parent’s company offers paid parental leave and one group where the non-birthing parent’s company doesn’t offer paid parental leave. Due to the limiting companies that do offer paid leave, it would be beneficial to have the families coming from similar areas in the United States to get a better picture of the effects of leave as well as ensuring both companies are larger in size. The focus would also be specifically on middle to lower class income families as they are the families that could and would benefit the most from paid family leave. Data Collection Once potential participants have been identified, researchers will need to present the IRB consent form and ensure that it is properly understood and accepted. From there, the non-birthing partners would be given an intentional survey. On the initial survey, they would be asking 1) how much time are they allowed to take off? 2) how much time do they plan to take off for the birth

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