Evidence suggests that paternity leave-taking is associated with higher levels of father involvement, but research has been limited in its focus on cross-sectional analyses and indicators of father involvement used. This study utilizes national longitudinal data to examine whether paternity leave-taking is associated with two indicators of father engagement when children are infants, whether paternity leave-taking is associated with trajectories of father engagement during the first few years of a child's life, and whether the relationships between paternity leave and father engagement are explained by fathering commitments and attitudes. Results suggest that longer periods of leave are associated with more frequent engagement in developmental tasks and caretaking when children are infants as well as during the first few years of children's lives. There is also evidence that father attitudes partially explain the relationships between length of paternity leave and father engagement.
Keywords: family policy; father-child relations; fatherhood; parental investment/involvement; provider role; work-family balance.