Projected Paid Parental Leave Access and Equity Issues for American Indian and Alaska Native Working Mothers in Washington State

Background and Purpose: This study centers state-level policymaking impacts and equity implications for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people. Specifically, we investigate income stability, access to parental leave, and associated outcomes among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) mothers in Washington State during the perinatal period, within the context of the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach and grounded in an Indigenous theoretical framework, this research explores factors which alternately facilitate and impede leave access and outcomes for AIAN mothers.

Methods: Following a community-based approach, community and academic partners collaborated to determine research priorities and questions. These partners emphasized the importance of studying parental leave within a holistic Indigenous birth justice framework, taking into account structural harms and cultural and community strengths. The research design is mixed-methods and sequential, beginning with a quantitative analysis of linked population-level administrative data on AIAN mothers’ income in the year before and after a birth in Washington state between 2013-2016. These findings are then expanded through qualitative interviews with 17 AIAN self-identified mothers who were employed when they welcomed a new child in the five years preceding the interview. Qualitative data were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach rooted in Indigenous feminist theory – acknowledging researcher positionality, centering strengths-based interpretive frames, and leveraging participants’ expertise.

Results: Quantitative findings reveal disparities in earned income and projected PFML access, with AIAN mothers experiencing lower projected eligibility for Washington PFML, particularly among those with lower educational attainment, residing in rural areas, and earning lower wages. Using paired t-tests, mothers’ quarterly earnings in each quarter in the year before and after a birth were compared to the baseline quarter four quarters before the birth. Their earnings were significantly lower than the baseline quarter in the quarter of birth (p<0.001), one quarter post birth (p<0.001), and two quarters post birth (p<0.01). Qualitative results underscore the serious adverse impacts of insufficient paid leave access for working AIAN mothers and the many intersecting inequities and strengths they experience during the time after welcoming a new child. These findings are organized under three main themes and 11 sub-themes. The three main themes include Work, Income, and Leave Characteristics; Impacts and Intersections of Inequitable Leave Access Pre- and Post-PFML, and Opportunities to Address Inequities.

Conclusions and Implications: It is critical to support families in building a strong foundation for their children in the early years of their lives, and financial wellbeing is central to this process. As emphasized by community partners during the study design phase and by qualitative study participants, paid family leave is necessary but not sufficient to accomplishing this. AIAN families’ economic, health, and holistic wellbeing in the time after welcoming a new child is supported by family-centered policymaking that is multi-pronged and synergistic and by ecological support structures rooted in strengths and culture. Further research is recommended to address AIAN PFML access and utilization dynamics, both in Washington since PFML implementation and nationally across paid leave states.