ultimate outcomes may occur in the future. Some outcomes (such as labour force effects and effects on child development) may not be evident until the scheme has been operational for a number of years, while achieving other objectives may depend on attitudinal change. The DAPP evaluation In 2012, the PPL evaluation was extended to include an assessment of the impact of DAPP. Part C (Chapters 7 – 11) of this report presents the findings of the DAPP evaluation. The DAPP evaluation focused on DAPP uptake, the impact of DAPP on the time fathers and partners take away from work following a birth, and whether DAPP leads to increased opportunities for fathers to bond with their newborn, take a greater share of caring responsibilities and provide greater support for mothers following a birth. It also examined employer responses to DAPP. DAPP evaluation methodology The DAPP evaluation assessed the impact of DAPP in families with eligible fathers. Its approach was to compare the experiences and behaviour of families and employers before and after the commencement of DAPP. The DAPP evaluation compares three sets of data collected before and after the introduction of DAPP: In-depth interviews with families: Pre-DAPP in-depth interview study of families in which the mother gave birth in September 2012, undertaken in April and May 2013. Post-DAPP in-depth interview study of families in which the mother gave birth in April 2013, undertaken between September and December 2013. This qualitative research focused on fathers’ leave taking and the factors influencing it, their experience of bonding with their newborns, their participation in household work, and their support for the mother. Online survey of random samples of fathers: Pre-DAPP online survey of fathers whose partners gave birth in September 2012. The survey was conducted when babies were between six and nine months old. Post-DAPP online survey of fathers whose partners gave birth in April 2013. The survey was conducted when babies were 5-8 months old. The survey asked fathers about their leave taking and involvement in household work and childcare. In-depth interviews with employers:
Low-income mothers (bottom third of income), mothers without tertiary education, mothers in casual work and self-employed mothers responded most strongly to the introduction of PPL. These results are as expected, given that: PPL provides payment at the national minimum wage for up to 18 weeks, which is a larger proportion of their usual income for low-income women than for high-income women. High-income women and tertiary-educated women are more likely to have access to employer paid parental leave compared to other women. For these women, the availability of PPL makes a relatively small difference to their leave options. In contrast, low-income and women are more likely to be in jobs without access to any paid parental leave before PPL, so the availability of PPL makes a large difference to their leave options. Self-employed and casually employed women are very unlikely to have access to employer paid parental leave, so for many of these women the introduction of PPL was a substantial change. The second component of the analysis focussed on mothers who returned to work by the time their child turned one year of age. Amongst this group, PPL led to: A significant increase in the probability that mothers returned to the pre-birth job. This effect is largest for women without tertiary qualification, and to a lesser extent (and only at the 10% significance level) also for those with low income. A significant increase in the probability of women returning to the same job with the same conditions, with little variation between groups of mothers. PPL appears to have limited bearing on the type of jobs to which mothers return if they do not return to their pre-birth job and conditions.