When it comes to advancing gender equality in the workplace, paid family leave is often touted as a policy to help women balance career and caretaking. But it should not be seen as a “silver bullet,” says Maya Rossin-Slater.

In fact, research on the effects of paid leave on women’s career trajectories provides a mixed picture, with impacts being dependent on the length of leave and other factors, says Rossin-Slater, an economist and associate professor of health policy in the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Rather, a reason to support paid family leave (PFL) is because of its health and well-being benefits and its contributions to overall financial stability, Slater says. In her research, she analyzes the economic and health impacts of paid family leave, studying workers, families, and employers.

Rossin-Slater has reviewed some of the available evidence demonstrating the positive benefits of PFL for child and maternal health, and her own research has found that workplace flexibility for fathers can lead to positive spillover effects for mothers—it can, for example, lower the likelihood of having to see a medical specialist for childbirth related complications.

Here, she talks about the holistic benefits of PFL and how support for it has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic as more employers realize how helpful it is for their employees: