Full Citation
Title: Family Leave Policy in the United States: The Legacy of 'Separate Spheres'
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2005
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Abstract: This dissertation explains central features of United States family leave policy as instituted by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). The FMLA entitles working Americans under certain conditions to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid employment leave for specified family-related reasons. While notable for establishing a gender-neutral entitlement to employment leave, overall the FMLA is relatively modest in substance and scope and assigns a limited regulatory role to the Federal Government. The central argument is that these features can be partly explained by the continuing role played by the idea of separate work and family spheres for men and women ('separate spheres'). Historical federal policy relating to women and work, the substantive and political forbear to modern family leave policy, was guided by the idea of separate spheres which carried over to family leave policy. This explanation was assessed empirically through a research design comparing United States Congressional hearing testimony from both policy eras. To access the relative presence of separate spheres and the primary competing idea of equal rights, the incidence of gender-specific and gender-neutral statements in discussions of men, women and their relationships to work and family was compared. The results allow for rejection of the null hypothesis that the idea of separate spheres plays no role in family leave policy, as such suggesting modest support for the overall explanation.
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Authors: Berggren, Heidi M.
Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder
Department: Department of Political Science
Advisor: Anne N. Costain
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Publisher Location: Boulder, CO
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Family and Marriage, Labor Force and Occupational Structure
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