According to the US Census Bureau’s report, Maternity Leave and Employment Patterns: 1961-2003, women are more likely to work while pregnant than they were in the 1960’s. Two-thirds of women who had their first child from 2001 to 2003 worked during their pregnancy as compared to 44 percent of women during the period from 1961 to 1965. Some other trends in womens’ work experience in relation to the birth of their first child and maternity leave patterns are presented below.
Women are now more likely to work longer into their pregnancies; 80 percent who worked while pregnant in 2001 to 2003 worked one month or less before their first child’s birth compared to 35 percent in 1961 to 1965.
Women are returning to work more rapidly after the birth of their first child than they were in the 1960’s. Fourteen percent of new mothers in the early 1960’s had returned to work within six months after giving birth, while 17 percent had returned to work within a year. In 2000 to 2002, the percentages were 55 percent and 64 percent, respectively.1
· In 2001 to 2003, 49 percent of first-time mothers who worked during pregnancy used paid leave before or after the birth of their child and 39 percent used unpaid leave.
· Twenty-five percent of women quit their jobs; 17 percent while they were pregnant and another 8 percent by 12 weeks after the child’s birth.
· Sixty percent of mothers with a bachelor’s degree or higher received paid leave benefits compared to 39 percent of mothers with high school diploma and 22 percent of mothers with less than high school.
· Eighty-three percent of mothers who worked during pregnancy and returned to work within a year of their child’s birth returned to the same employer. Seven in 10 of these women returned to jobs at the same pay, skill level and hours worked per week.
1The analysis is restricted to women who gave birth by 2002, because some women who gave birth in 2003 did not have one full year of employment data by the time of the interview in 2004.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/employment_occupations/011536.html
For more information, contact Nasreen Ahmad at 972.377.1610.
