Work-Family Reconciliation Policies and the Socioeconomic Status Gradient in Children’s Well-being

Matthew Andersson , Baylor University
Michael Garcia, University of Texas at Austin
Jennifer Glass, University of Texas

Recent work has documented associations between socioeconomic health disparities and variation in national economic and institutional contexts. However, any direct role of work-family policy for reducing socioeconomic disparities in children’s well-being remains unclear. Developmental-ecological theories recommend the empirical investigation of links between parents’ work arrangements and children’s well-being, especially in the case of family poverty or severe disadvantage. We utilize country-level data on work-family reconciliation policies, merged with individual-level data on children’s mental and physical well-being and family economic disadvantage (2006 and 2010 rounds of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey). In adjusted models, we find robust evidence consistent with narrowing of poverty well-being gaps by parental and vacation-sick leave mandates, consistent with a critical-period model of child development. Country-level flexible work arrangements also track with narrowed children’s well-being gaps, suggesting that work-family reconciliation policies have utility for children’s health disparities beyond the early years.

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 Presented in Session 139. Political Determinants of Health and Mortality