TORONTO – While guidelines insist new moms should breastfeed their babies for at least half a year, a new study sheds light on the financial hit many parents face from following this recommendation.
Supporters of breastfeeding say that the method is cost-efficient and virtually free, since mothers aren’t expected to head to the store to buy formula and bottles. But a Canadian-U.S. study suggests that women who breast-feed beyond the six-month period see a “steep” decline in earnings.
“Breastfeeding for six months or longer is only free if a mother’s time is worth absolutely nothing,” said Mary Noonan, a study author from the University of Iowa.
Phyllis Rippeyoung, of Nova Scotia’s Acadia University, collaborated with Noonan in their report published in the April issue of American Sociological Review.
The pair looked at 1,313 first-time moms across the U.S. who were in their 20s or 30s when they gave birth between 1980 and 1993. The moms all had jobs the year before their babies were born.
Moms who breastfed for less than six months, moms who did so beyond six months and moms who relied only on formula all recorded financial losses while staying at home to nurse, but it was moms who took on long-term breastfeeding who saw the biggest hit to their bank accounts.
“All of society benefits from children being raised to be fully functioning adults, and yet we seem to think that only mothers should be paying for this,” Rippeyoung said.
Her interest in the hidden costs of breastfeeding peaked during her own experience rearing her kids – health documents and promotions to moms all pointed to breastfeeding because it is free.
“I found it quite odd that no one was taking into account the lost earnings that could come as a mother has to take time away from work to establish breastfeeding,” she said, noting that she was living in the U.S. at the time, where paid maternity leave is rare.
Rippeyoung concedes that formula costs can add up, but aside from time, breastfeeding can also involve nursing bras, clothing that’s easier to nurse in, such as button down shirts, and a breast pump. Some mothers buy bags to store their milk in, nursing pads, bottles and a sterilizer and, in some cases, nursing pillows or chairs to help.
Across the board, a portion of new moms left their jobs, regardless of their nursing style. By the time their babies turned one, 13 per cent of formula feeders, eight per cent of those who breastfed for six months and 19 per cent of long-term breast feeders were not employed.
If these women made their way back to work, they also clocked less time. Formula feeders, before birth, worked 1,658 hours per year to 1,480 hours post-birth.
Short-term breast feeders worked about 178 hours less when they became moms and those who breastfed more than their counterparts turned away about 500 hours of work after having a baby.
However, the researchers could not say for certain that breastfeeding caused these women to quit their jobs or turn to part-time hours.
She said another project she’s working on points to potential long-term benefits of breastfeeding beyond six-month recommendations, but they aren’t significant enough for moms to consider nursing from home if they can’t afford it.
“There are many, many women who have no real choice about staying home, and so to stay home and not work for pay means that perhaps they don’t eat or have a place to live,” Rippeyoung told Global News.
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