Fathers Who Take Paternity Leave Less Likely to Abuse Alcohol

A new study, conducted by the Department of Public Health Sciences of Stockholm University in Sweden and published on October 5, indicates that new fathers who take paid paternity leave are less likely to be hospitalized for alcohol abuse.

To obtain the results, authors Helena Honkaniemi and Sol Juárez analyzed alcohol-related hospitalizations and deaths of over 220,000 first-time fathers of single children born in Sweden from January 1992 to December 1997. As the years progressed, the researchers held follow-up interviews with their subjects so as to continuously monitor their alcohol-related maladies, or lack thereof.

What they found was a steep decline in post-birth alcohol-related hospitalizations in fathers who took paid leave within two years of the birth. Honkaniemi and Juárez also found the avoidance of hospital trips held throughout the child’s adolescent and teen years.

“We found that after the [fathers’ paternal leave policy] was implemented [in Sweden], there was a 34 percent decrease in [alcohol-related] hospitalizations among fathers in the two years after birth, as well as smaller, decreases up to eight and 18 years after birth,” Honkaniemi said in a statement. 

The policy was first instituted in 1974, and in the nearly 50 years since, time away from the office among new fathers has increased from 1 percent to 30 percent.

“Parents balancing multiple roles, especially between work and family life, may experience so-called role overload manifesting in stress and, ultimately, elevated coping behaviors including alcohol use,” the report states. “Through adequate employment-related and financial protections, parental leave can, therefore, reduce stress, related coping behaviors and, ultimately, poor mental health.”

The study also includes some promising information for America, where paid family leave is far from guaranteed. “Quasi-experimental evidence from the United States…has found that a state policy introducing paid leave also decreased risks of self-reported alcohol use among fathers,” the report said.

Juárez sees the results as a clear indication that paid parental leave is not an issue of gender equality, but one of mental health. “Policymakers should consider that fathers’ parental leave not only promotes more gender-equal participation in childcare but can also reduce alcohol-related harms,” she wrote.