Parental Leave and Fathers' Involvement with Children in Bangladesh: A Comparison with United States

Much is unknown about how traditional fathering roles have changed in the developing nations in conjunction with the rise of nuclear dual earner families. Fathers' employment leave patterns and involvement with children were assessed for a convenience sample of 86 parents in Bangladesh. Fifty-nine mothers and 27 fathers completed selfadministered questionnaires on employment leave, child care activities, and attitudes. Questionnaires and measures used were based on a United States (U.S.) study with a comparable sample (cf. Seward, Yeatts, Amin, & DeWitt, 2006) in order to allow a comparison of Bangladesh fathers to those in the U.S. Three questions were addressed. (1) To what extent do Bangladeshi fathers take leave for childbirth? (2) To what extent are Bangladeshi fathers involved with children? (3) How do Bangladeshi fathers' leave and involvement pattern compare with fathers' practices in the United States? For some of the data comparison were made between single and dual earner Bangladeshi families to examine if father's leave patterns and involvement varied by family type. Bangladeshi fathers took shorter leaves in conjunction with childbirth than U.S. fathers. In both samples, fathers who took leave participated more in all child care tasks when compared to fathers who did not take leave. Bangladeshi families are facing a similar situation to U.S. low-income families. Like U.S. fathers, economic factors play a major role in Bangladeshi fathers' leave taking. Bien des aspects de la façon dont les rôles traditionnels ont évolué restent encore inconnus, en particulier dans les pays en voie de développement avec la montée des familles nucléaires à double revenu. Dans cette étude, les tendances des congés paternels et l'engagement des pères a l'égard de leurs enfants ont été évaluées à partir d'un échantillon de convenance de 86 parents au Bangladesh. Cinquante-neuf mères et vingt-sept pères ont rempli un questionnaire autoadministré sur les attitudes concernant les congés d'emploi et les activités de garde d'enfants. Les questionnaires et les mesures utilisés ont ete basés sur un étude réalisée aux Etats-Unis avec un échantillon comparable (cf. Seward, Yeatts, Amin & De Witt, 2006) dans le but d'établir une comparaison entre pères bangladeshis et pères américains. Trois questions ont été adressées. (1) Dans quelle mesure les pères bangladeshis prennent-ils congé lors d'une naissance? (2) Quel est l'engagement des pères vis-a-vis de leurs enfants? (3) Co