A new study has found that the longer a mother spends on maternity leave, the more likely she is to develop a smoking habit later in life.
Maternity leave
Researchers tracked over 8,500 mothers across 14 European countries, spanning birth cohorts from 1960 to 2010, and discovered a clear pattern between extended leave and later cigarette use.
Sonja Spitzer, a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in the Department of Demography at the University of Vienna, said: "We actually expected that longer career breaks would lead to mothers smoking less. However, our results clearly show that the likelihood of smoking later in life increases with longer periods of parental leave."
Published in the Journal of Health Economics, the study found that for every extra month of maternity leave, the odds of developing a smoking habit later rose by 1.2%. Total smoking duration increased by around seven months, average daily intake rose by 0.2 cigarettes, and “pack-years” - a measure of lifetime smoking - climbed by 0.6.
Dr Spitzer explained: "In principle, maternity and parental leave are important for health, and in the short term, health protection also outweighs other considerations. However, if the leave period is too long, financial burdens, social isolation and professional disadvantages can increase - smoking could be a coping mechanism for this stress.
“Financial worries during an already sensitive phase of life, such as around the time of birth can increase the pressure even more - this stress seems to have a particularly significant impact on health behaviour in the long term.”
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