Published online May 1, 2007
PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 5 May 2007, pp. e1047-e1055 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-2337)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chung, P. J.
Right arrow Articles by Schuster, M. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chung, P. J.
Right arrow Articles by Schuster, M. A.
Related Collections
Right arrow Office Practice

ARTICLE

Need for and Use of Family Leave Among Parents of Children With Special Health Care Needs

Paul J. Chung, MD, MSa,b, Craig F. Garfield, MD, MAPPc, Marc N. Elliott, PhDb, Colleen Carey, BAb, Carl Eriksson, MD, MPHd and Mark A. Schuster, MD, PhDa,b,e

a Department of Pediatrics, Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California
b RAND Health, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California
c Department of Pediatrics, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
d Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
e Department of Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California

OBJECTIVE. Parents of children with special health care needs are especially vulnerable to work–family conflicts that family leave benefits might help resolve. We examined leave-taking among full-time–employed parents of children with special health care needs.

METHODS. We identified all children with special health care needs in 2 large inpatient/outpatient systems in Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, and randomly selected 800 per site. From November 2003 to January 2004, we conducted telephone interviews with 1105 (87% of eligible and successfully contacted) parents. Among the sample's 574 full-time–employed parents, we examined whether leave benefits predicted missing any work for child illness, missing >4 weeks for child illness, and ability to miss work whenever their child needed them.

RESULTS. Forty-eight percent of full-time–employed parents qualified for federal Family and Medical Leave Act benefits; 30% reported employer-provided leave benefits (not including sick leave/vacation). In the previous year, their children averaged 20 missed school/child care days, 12 doctor/emergency department visits, and 1.7 hospitalizations. Although 81% of parents missed work for child illness, 41% reported not always missing work when their child needed them, and 40% of leave-takers reported returning to work too soon. In multivariate regressions, parents who were eligible for Family and Medical Leave Act benefits and aware of their eligibility had 3.0 times greater odds of missing work for child illness than ineligible parents. Parents with >4 weeks of employer-provided leave benefits had 4.7 times greater odds of missing >4 weeks than parents without benefits. Parents with paid leave benefits had 2.8 times greater odds than other parents of missing work whenever their child needed them.

CONCLUSIONS. Full-time–employed parents of children with special health care needs experience severe work–family conflicts. Although most have leave benefits, many report unmet need for leave. Access to Family and Medical Leave Act benefits and employer-provided leave may greatly affect leave-taking.

Key Words: chronic disease • family leave • parents

Abbreviations: CSHCN—children with special health care needs • FMLA—Family and Medical Leave Act • UCLA—Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA • CMH—Children's Memorial Hospital • PedsQL—Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory • MHI-5—Mental Health Inventory 5 • OR—odds ratio

Accepted Nov 15, 2006.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Arch Pediatr Adolesc MedHome page
E. L. Schor
Should Children With Special Health Care Needs Have Separate Preventive Care Visits?
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, December 1, 2007; 161(12): 1216 - 1218.
[Full Text] [PDF]