U.S. Falls Far Behind Most of the World in Support for Fathers and Caregivers of Aging Adults

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States is falling further behind the rest of the world in supporting fathers and caregivers of older adults, new UCLA research finds — and women's engagement in the economy is stagnating as a result.

Today, the WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD) at UCLA launched "Equality within Our Lifetimes," the most comprehensive analysis to date of laws and policies related to gender equality in all 193 U.N. member states. While the U.S. performs well in some areas, it has become even more of an outlier when it comes to care.

Since 1995, the new research shows, the share of countries globally providing paid leave to fathers of infants has nearly tripled. Altogether, 63% of countries worldwide, 78% of high-income countries, and 100% of countries in the European Union (EU) guarantee paid leave to dads. Meanwhile, the U.S. fails to provide any paid leave nationally.

"Research shows that paternity leave is not only rewarding for men but when men take leave following the birth of a baby, parents share household work more equally, women are more likely to stay in the workforce, and women's earnings increase," said Dr. Jody Heymann, a UCLA Distinguished Professor of public policy and public health and Founding Director of WORLD.

The U.S. also falls short when it comes to supporting workers caring for adult family members and older children. Although Department of Labor statistics show that over 40 million U.S. adults are providing care to a family member over 65, the U.S. provides no leave to care for a seriously ill parent, unlike 74% of E.U. countries. Likewise, while 78% of E.U. countries guarantee leave to care for an ill spouse, the U.S. offers none.

These gaps hurt women the most. "Women continue to shoulder the majority of unpaid caregiving for family members of all ages," said WORLD Senior Legal Analyst Aleta Sprague. "When leave to meet these needs is unavailable, as in the U.S., women are more likely than men to leave their jobs, reduce their hours, or step back from leadership positions – all of which reinforce broader gender inequalities in earnings and influence."

The U.S.'s lack of support for fathers and workers caring for adult family members compounds its longstanding inaction on paid maternity leave: unlike 96% of the world's countries, the U.S. has yet to adopt paid leave for mothers of infants.

"When we began tracking leave policies globally in 2000, 18 countries still hadn't passed leave for mothers of infants," said WORLD Principal Research Analyst Amy Raub. "Today, it's only the U.S., Papua New Guinea, and five small south Pacific countries that still have no paid leave policy. The U.S.'s continued failure to adopt paid leave for either parent is setting women back and hurting our economy."

From 2000 to 2021, among the 36 countries that were members of the OECD throughout that period, the U.S. dropped from 7th to 28th on women's labor force participation — and past studies have found that lack of paid leave is a major contributor.

"Equality within Our Lifetimes" is based on over a decade of research by the WORLD Policy Analysis Center, the world's largest independent data center measuring laws and policies in all countries worldwide. WORLD's multilingual, interdisciplinary team examined laws and policies in all 193 U.N. member states and rigorously analyzed the impacts of legal changes around the world. Alongside an open-access book published through U.C. Press, the launch includes over 100 new global maps, open-access policy data for all 193 countries, and policy briefs available in three languages.

"Estimates from multiple sources show that if we achieved full gender equality in the economy, annual GDP would rise by over 4 trillion dollars," Heymann said. "The question is not whether we can afford to pass paid leave for all, but how we could afford not to."

About the WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD) at UCLA
The WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD) at UCLA is the largest independent global policy data center, capturing over 2,500 social, economic, health, and environmental quantitative legal indicators for all 193 U.N. countries. 

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SOURCE UCLA World Policy Analysis Center