加州带薪家庭假项目男性使用情况的混合方法分析（英）

The Importance of Being ThereA Mixed-Methods Analysis of Men’s Utilization of California’s Paid Family Leave Program NOAH JOHNSONThis document was submitted as a dissertation in December 2024 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Frederick S. Pardee Ph.D. in Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. The faculty committee that supervised and approved the dissertation consisted of Kathryn Bouskill (chair), Jill Cannon, and Michael Pollard. The outside reader was June Carbone.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RGSDA4236-1.About the RAND School of Public PolicyThe RAND School of Public Policy has specialized in graduate-level policy education since its founding in 1970. The RAND School is home to the Frederick S. Pardee Ph.D. in Policy Analysis, which is the original public policy Ph.D. program in the United States and the only Ph.D. program based at an independent public policy research organization. To learn more about the RAND School of Public Policy, visit www.rand.edu.Published in 2025 by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. is a registered trademark. ii Abstract Worldwide, there is a gender gap in the utilization of parental leave benefits, with women using more leave than men. To understand this divergence within California, this dissertation used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the gender gap in California’s Paid Family Leave Program (C-PFL). Family leave is primarily used for “baby bonding” (spending time with a child in their first year of life). A quantitative analysis of C-PFL administrative data and U.S. Census data shows how utilization has changed over time by sex, income, and geography. Though there is still a gap between men’s and women’s utilization, that gap has closed considerably. Qualitative interviews with parents who were eligible to use the program, including those who used it and those who did not, elucidated how people made the decision and how those choices differed by gender and other personal characteristics. The single most common factor determining whether a father used leave was financial: the wage replacement rate of 70% or less meant a large income reduction. As men were typically the higher earners in their household, they found the leave unaffordable. Though financial consideration dissuaded fathers from using C-PFL, other factors such as personal motivation, spousal encouragement, and workplace support made fathers more likely to use leave. Fathers who used leave reported very positive feelings about being able to spend time with their family at a crucial moment in their lives. Despite men’s lower utilization, there was a near-universal belief that men should be involved and present in their children’s lives. California, as of 2025, implemented one policy recommendation: raising the remuneration rate. Other recommendations include demonstrating the state’s commitment to enforcing protections i