Parental Leave and Return to Work

The transition to parenthood represents an exciting time for many adults, yet can also pose challenges for working parents trying to balance this new and important role. Due to a mix of political, economic, workplace and personal factors, the majority of parents return to work following the birth of a child in the Western countries. Public policy for parental leave and the timeframe for returning to work vary significantly across countries. For example, in some Scandinavian and European countries, mothers are away from work for 10 months to 3 years, whereas most mothers in the U.S. who return to work do so within 6–12 weeks. In this chapter we take a global perspective to discuss the parental leave and return to work process. Our theoretical background includes a multi-disciplinary perspective, integrating theories from the work-family and return to work literatures. Structured as a four-stage process (pre-leave, away on leave, initial transition, and post-transition back to work), we review current parental leave policies and practices, as well as individual and workplace factors that affect the return to work process. We also describe interventions that have been conducted during this process to improve parents’ transitions and adjustment. We conclude with practical implications and discuss future research directions.