Role of Maternity Leave: Working Mothers and Psychological Wellbeing

Abstract

Psychological well-being is an essential part of understanding various aspects of women’s lives, including work and family. The study empirically investigates the impact of maternity leaves on various dimensions of psychological well-being. The sample consists of 76 working mothers with 7-8 hours of work and children aged 0-2 years were studied using Carol Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale in Delhi NCR. The t statistics were employed for the analysis. The findings suggest that there was a significant difference on 2 out of 7 dimensions namely Autonomy and the Personal Growth among those who could or couldn’t avail maternity leaves, exploring the importance of environmental factors, family and care giver support, self-concept and level of education other than the availability of maternity leaves. The study belongs to the organisational discipline of psychology. This research opens the avenue for exploring the impact of workplace dynamics in collectivistic cultures like India and can help to understand that a change from being a woman to a mother can be emotionally distressing.