经济学家艾米丽·奥斯特（Emily Oster）在与倡导组织“Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America”合作进行的研究报告中指出，雇主可能高估了提供带薪育儿假的负面影响，同时低估了不提供该福利导致员工流失的成本。
Employers might be overestimating the downsides of offering paid parental leave and underestimating the costs of losing employees by foregoing it, argues economist Emily Oster in a new report based on research she conducted with the advocacy group Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies America.
她对四个没有公共育儿假计划的州（阿肯色州、伊利诺伊州、密西西比州和内布拉斯加州）的雇主进行了调查，发现55%的雇主表示提供带薪育儿假并未带来额外成本。在77%的情况下，现有员工承担了新父母的的工作任务。
A survey of employers in four states without public-sponsored leave programs — Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, and Nebraska — found that 55% of employers reported no additional costs from offering it. In 77% of cases, employers said existing staff absorbed the work of the new parent.
总体而言，有提供育儿假经验的雇主中，认为其好处大于成本的比例是那些没有提供育儿假的雇主的两倍（47%对23%）。一些雇主将员工留任作为提供育儿假的理由。
Overall, respondents with experience offering parental leave were twice as likely to say the benefits outweighed costs (47% vs. 23%). Some employers cited worker retention as a reason they offered it.
奥斯特同时也是数据驱动的育儿和孕期建议平台ParentData的首席执行官，她表示：“这些数据表明，对于雇主来说，提供育儿假远比许多人想象的更容易应对。”
“This data suggests it is far more manageable for employers than many people fear,” said Oster, also the CEO of ParentData, a data-driven parenting and pregnancy advice platform.
不过，仍有17%的雇主表示这给他们带来了“显著的财务压力”。
Still, 17% of employers who offered leave said it created “significant financial strain.”
该研究没有具体说明带薪假的长度，也没有探讨这对公司内其他员工是否有负面影响。
The study did not specify the length of the paid leave or examine if there were adverse retention effects on other employees within the company.
奥斯特建议各州应考虑提供税收优惠来鼓励雇主提供育儿假，并努力提高公众对这项研究结果的认识，尤其是小企业。”
Oster suggested states should consider tax credits to entice employers to offer parental leave, and should try to increase public awareness of her survey’s results, especially among small businesses.
根据该组织执行董事罗宾·雷克（Robin Reck）的说法，“Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies”推动带薪育儿假研究的部分目的是为了在未来五年内投入1亿美元，以推进相关研究和政策，从而将美国的孕产妇死亡率降低一半。
Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies’ push for paid leave research comes as part of a campaign to spend $100 million over five years to advance research and policies to push down the US maternal mortality rate by half, according to Robin Reck, the group’s executive director.