Working parents in rural America have less access than urban parents to family-friendly work policies like parental leave and paid sick days according to a new report from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

The policy brief, authored by Rebecca Glauber, a Carsey Institute faculty fellow and assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 2000 through 2006.

Among the report's findings:

• Rural mothers have lower hourly and annual earnings even though they work the same hours as urban mothers.
• Rural mothers are less likely than urban mothers to have access to paid sick and/or vacation days, health and dental insurance, parental leave, flex time and even job training.
• Single rural working mothers are less likely than their married counterparts to have access to family-friendly work policies.

The full policy brief, Family-Friendly Policies for Rural Working Mothers, is available to download at http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/PB_FamilyPolicies_09.pdf.

The Carsey Institute conducts policy and applied research on vulnerable families and on sustainable community development.