RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Dangerous dads? Ecological and longitudinal analyses of paternity leave and risk for child injury
JF Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JO J Epidemiol Community Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 1001
OP 1004
DO 10.1136/jech-2011-200181
VO 66
IS 11
A1 Lucie Laflamme
A1 Anna Månsdotter
A1 Michael Lundberg
A1 Cecilia Magnusson
YR 2012
UL http://jech.bmj.com/content/66/11/1001.abstract
AB Background In 1974, Sweden became the first country to permit fathers to take paid parental leave. Other countries are currently following suit issuing similar laws. While this reform supports the principles of the United Nations convention of the right for children to be with both parents and enshrines the ethos of gender equality, there has been little systematic examination of its potential impact on child health. Instead, there is uninformed debate that fathers may expose their children to greater risks of injury than mothers. In this Swedish national study, the authors therefore assess whether fathers' parental leave can be regarded as a more serious risk factor for child injuries than that of mothers. Methods Nationwide register-based ecological and longitudinal studies of hospitalisation due to injury (and intoxication) in early childhood, involving the Swedish population in 1973–2009 (ecological design), and children born in 1988 and 1989 (n=118 278) (longitudinal design). Results An increase in fathers' share of parental leave over time was parallelled by a downward trend in child injury rates (age 0–4 years). At the individual level, the crude incidence of child injury (age 0–2 years) was lower during paternity as compared with maternity leave. This association was, however, explained by parental socio-demographic characteristics (multivariate HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.2). Conclusion There is no support for the notion that paternity leave increases the risk of child injury.