Journal article
Early employment after childbirth: a cross-sectional analysis using data from a national maternity survey in England
- Abstract:
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Background
Participation in paid work after childbirth may have important health and socioeconomic impacts on women and their families. We investigated women's employment patterns at six months postpartum and the factors that influence them.
Methods
Using data from a 2018 population-based national maternity survey in England, employment status at six months postpartum was assessed. Logistic regression was used to explore sociodemographic and pregnancy- and birth-related factors associated with being in paid work by six months postpartum. Descriptive analysis was used to explore employment characteristics and motivations of women in paid work.
Results
Of the 4313 participants included, 7.7% were in paid work by six months postpartum. Factors associated with being in paid work were age ≥35 years [(adjusted odd ratios (aOR):1.37, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.02–1.84], not living with a partner (aOR:0.50, 95%CI:0.28–0.90), and pre-term birth (aOR:0.38, 95%CI:0.20–0.69). The most frequently reported motivation was financial need (76%), followed by wanting to work (41%). Financial need was associated with younger age, living in a more socioeconomically disadvantaged area, not living with a partner, and lower education level.
Conclusion
Postpartum employment patterns and motivations for working vary according to sociodemographic characteristics. These findings have important implications for parental leave and childcare policies, which should be equitable across different groups.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 675.2KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1093/pubmed/fdae312
Authors
+ National Institute for Health Research
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0187kwz08
- Grant:
- PR-PRU-1217-21202
- Programme:
- Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Journal:
- Journal of Public Health More from this journal
- Volume:
- 47
- Issue:
- 1
- Pages:
- e67–e76
- Place of publication:
- England
- Publication date:
- 2024-12-27
- Acceptance date:
- 2024-12-04
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1741-3850
- ISSN:
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1741-3842
- Pmid:
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39724932
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2073561
- Local pid:
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pubs:2073561
- Deposit date:
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2025-01-10
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Wyatt et al
- Copyright date:
- 2024
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work properly cited.
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