Paid Maternal Leave is Associated with Infant Brain Function at 3-Months of Age

Abstract

The first few months of postnatal life are critical for establishing key neural connections that support the development of subsequent social, cognitive, and linguistic skills. Yet, the United States lacks a national policy of paid family leave during this important period of early brain development, despite previous research demonstrating links between paid leave and improved maternal mental health, lower rates of infant mortality, and increases in cognitive skills during toddlerhood. The current study examined associations between paid maternal leave and infant brain function at 3-months of age using electroencephalography (EEG). Even after controlling for influential infant and family characteristics, results indicate that compared to unpaid leave, experiences of paid leave were related to distinct EEG profiles, possibly reflecting more mature patterns of brain activity. Findings from this study support past work demonstrating the benefits of paid leave on infant cognitive development and extend this work into early neural functioning. Together with past research, this work suggests that policy interventions mandating paid family leave may lead to reductions in sociodemographic health disparities and set the stage for healthy neurocognitive development.

The Impact of Postpartum Depression on the Early Parent-Infant Relationship: Perception Versus Reality

“…The United States is the only high-income country in the world without federal protections for paid leave for working women who give birth. Currently, only 15% of workers in the United States have access to paid maternity leave, with rates skewed toward women of higher socioeconomic status [36]. As paid leave is associated with a lower likelihood of postpartum depression and maternal stress -which support the findings of this study -mandating paid leave to working mothers could reduce disparities in maternal and child health [5].…”

Bilingual Language Development in Infancy: What Can We Do to Support Bilingual Families?

“…Because frequent, high-quality language experience is essential for early language learning, young bilinguals’ development will benefit from policies that allow key caregivers to spend more time with infants during the first years of life, if they desire. Studies with monolingual children highlight that paid family leave, particularly maternal leave after birth, can lead to better language outcomes during toddlerhood (Kozak et al, 2021) and help decrease sociodemographic health disparities, thus resulting in healthier neurocognitive development in infancy (Brito et al, 2021). Countries such as Canada and Sweden offer policies that allow families with two parents to share the total amount of leave, which can help ensure that their infants get high-quality exposure from multiple caregivers in multiple languages.…”

Bilingual language development in infancy: What can we do to support bilingual families?

“…Because frequent, high-quality language experience is essential for early language learning, young bilinguals' development will benefit from policies that allow key caregivers to spend more time with infants during the first years of life, if they desire. Studies with monolingual children highlight that paid family leave, particularly maternal leave after birth, can lead to better language outcomes during toddlerhood (Kozak et al, 2021) and help decrease sociodemographic health disparities, thus resulting in healthier neurocognitive development in infancy (Brito et al, 2021). Countries such as Canada and Sweden offer policies that allow families with two parents to share the total amount of leave, which can help ensure that their infants get high-quality exposure from multiple caregivers in multiple languages.…”