*3.1. Data Collection*

To investigate the effects of maternity leave policies on working mothers' quiet quitting behaviors in the workplaces, we developed a survey to collect primary data from a panel of working mothers across industries to which a professional research company provided access. The data collection took place during November 2022. The sampling process began by posting a brief description of the study outlining the research question and eligibility criteria for participation. Eligibility criteria included being 18 years of age and a current working mother in the US. We specifically posted an announcement that we do not discriminate any age or race groups in the survey participation. Before launching the survey, Institutional Research Board (IRB) approval was obtained to ensure the protection of human subject rights during the data collection process. Incentives (USD 1) were used to motivate participation, and brief descriptions of the research background and key terms (e.g., maternity leave and quiet quitting) were introduced before the main portion of the survey to facilitate the participants' understanding of the survey questions. An estimate of 15 min was calculated for each respondent to complete the survey online. No identifiable information was collected to reduce response bias. We have to admit that the survey excluded the cases where hospitality staff worked during the maternity periods and moved to other organizations (i.e., actual quitting behaviors), which limited the sample scope of the research. Therefore, our sample only consisted of those working mothers who have continued working at the same organization during and after maternity periods.

The structure of the survey included (a) screening questions about work experiences and respondents' pregnancy and motherhood experiences; (b) main questions regarding maternity leave and quiet quitting tendencies; and (c) demographic questions. To improve the data quality, two attention-check questions were inserted into the survey. After data cleaning (i.e., removal of missing responses, removal of responses that failed to pass attention check questions, and removal of invariant responses), the final dataset for analysis consisted of 310 cases. Among the respondents, the majority were between 25 and 38 years of age (72.7%), followed by those who were between 39 and 51 years of age (19.6%). Only 7.7% of respondents were either 18–24 years old or 51 years old or above. The ethnicity distribution among respondents was severely skewed: more than 70% identified as White, followed by 22.2% who identified as Asian. About 75% of respondents reported that they had a bachelor's degree. More than 80% of the respondents had one or two children in their households. The majority (92.9%) were married (and not separated). In terms of income, most (about 60%) had an annual income between USD 40,000 and USD 80,000. In terms of working industries, about 45% reported that they worked in personal care and service positions, food preparation and services, or healthcare support. Only about 20% reported sales positions or business operations roles.

## *3.2. Measures*

Given the nascent nature of the research, the scale used to measure maternity leave policies and quiet quitting behaviors in the survey was self-developed with consideration of prior references. Information relevant to maternity leave policies was measured using nine questions, such as "Did you take maternity leave when you had your child/children? (Yes, No, Other, If you had multiple children, you took maternity leave for one child but not others due to changing work policies or other circumstances)". Questions about paid or unpaid maternity leave and the duration of maternity leave (1–4 weeks, 4–8 weeks, 8–12 weeks, 12–16 weeks, 16+ weeks) were also included in the survey. Reasons for not taking maternity leave were also asked, with a list of possible answers including "financial instability, fears of loss of employment, place of employment does not offer maternity leave policies, did not have enough time off to take leave, and other". To further explore the topic of maternity leave policy effects on quiet quitting behaviors in the workplace, we also included several counterfactual questions:


The quiet quitting behaviors were measured using the following questions:

1. "Please read the following statements about the latest trend known as 'quiet quitting:' 'Quiet quitting' does not involve actually quitting the job to seek higher wages or better benefits elsewhere but is **defined as quitting the idea of going 'above and beyond'** [3]. Those who participate in quiet quitting no longer go 'above and beyond' in their work and simply do the **bare minimum to get the job done** [39]. Quiet quitting may seem like a way to treat burnout and can take several forms, such as **not answering emails or phone calls outside of work hours, saying no to new projects that aren't in the job description or that one may not want to do, and leaving work on time every day** [4].

Please answer the following questions: Are you aware of the latest trend known as 'quiet quitting'"?


Peer influence on quiet quitting behaviors was measured by one question: "Have you seen your workplace colleagues participate in 'quiet quitting?'" Supportive/flexible work for childcare needs was measured with the question, "Do you feel as if your supervisors are supportive/flexible when it comes to childcare? (5-point Likert scale; 1 = definitely not; 5 = definitely yes)." Emotional well-being (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92) was measured with nine questions adapted from [49]. Examples of emotional well-being measurements asked respondents about how they felt and how things had been for them over the past 4 weeks, including "Did you feel full of pep?" and "Have you been a very nervous person"?

#### **4. Results**

To test the proposed hypotheses regarding the connection between *maternity leave* and quiet quitting behaviors in the workplace among working mothers, multiple analyses of variances were performed on the dataset. Before hypothesis testing, a normality check was performed to ensure that the dataset qualified for further analysis. Table 1 shows the F scores and *p*-values for the hypothesis test results.



Note: \* *p* < 0.05; \*\* *p* < 0.01; \*\*\* *p* < 0.001.

Regarding Hypothesis 1 on the direct effect of maternity leave on quiet quitting behaviors, significant differences (F = 5.71, *p* < 0.05) were observed between working mothers who took maternity leave (Meana = 1.97) and their peers who did not (Meanb = 2.51) in their quiet quitting behaviors in the workplace, thus supporting Hypothesis 1. However, there was not a significant difference (F = 0.87, *p* > 0.05) between paid maternity leave and non-paid maternity leave in terms of working mothers' quiet quitting behaviors. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 was rejected. For Hypothesis 3 regarding the effects of maternity leave duration on quiet quitting behaviors, the ANOVA results did not show significant differences (F = 1.21, *p* > 0.05). However, when examining the relationships between maternity leave and emotional well-being, the test results showed significant differences in both the hypothesized relationships (took maternity leave vs. did not take; duration of maternity leave) with significance levels of *p* < 0.01 and *p* < 0.001, respectively. We further examined the effects of the duration of maternity leave by categorizing them based on weeks (1–4 weeks, 4–8 weeks, 8–12 weeks, 12–16 weeks, and more than 16 weeks). Table 2 depicts the means and significance. We found that working mothers who took 8–12 weeks of leave showed the most optimal emotional well-being compared to their peers who took leaves of other durations. The paid vs. unpaid maternity leave effect on emotional well-being showed an insignificant difference (*p* > 0.05).

In terms of social factors impacting working mothers' quiet quitting behaviors, results showed significant differences (*p* < 0.001) between working mothers who worked under supportive/flexible policies for childcare needs and observed peers' quiet quitting behaviors and their counterparts who did not work under supportive/flexible policies for childcare needs and did not identify their work colleagues' quiet quitting behaviors in the workplace. Therefore, Hypotheses 7 and 8 were supported.

To gain a deeper understanding of the research topic, we performed a multi-group analysis according to race (see Table 3) and age (see Table 4). The results showed a significant difference (*p* < 0.05) between White working mothers and other races, where White mothers were more likely (*p* < 0.001) to adopt quiet quitting behaviors than their counterparts in the workplace. The test results also showed that working mothers aged between 18 and 24 years old were more likely (*p* < 0.001) to adopt quite quitting behaviors than their older peers.

**Multiple Comparisons**


**Table 2.** Effects of duration of maternity leave on working mothers' emotional wellbeing.

Based on observed means. The error term is Mean Square(Error) = 0.869. \* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

**Table 3.** Race differences in quiet quitting behaviors.


Based on observed means. The error term is Mean Square(Error) = 0.106. \* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.


**Table 4.** Age differences in quiet quitting behaviors.

**Multiple Comparisons**

Based on observed means. The error term is Mean Square(Error) = 0.123. \* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Among the working mothers who did not take maternity leave, the top reasons (see Figure 1) for this decision included financial instability (54.7%), fears over loss of employment (49.8%), place of employment did not offer maternity leave (25.7%), did not have enough time off to take leaves (4.5%), and others (3.2%). We also included several counterfactual questions to further examine the effects of paid maternity leave policy on working mothers' quiet quitting behaviors (see Figures 2–4). First, 62% of working mothers who worked somewhere that offered a paid maternity leave policy indicated a greater willingness to go above and beyond in their job. Second, if they knew about the paid maternity leave policy but did not go on leave, about 48% of these working mothers expressed "not sure" or "no intention to go above and beyond in their job performance," meaning that this group has the potential to adopt quiet quitting behaviors at work. Finally, for those who knew about the paid leave policies and could see themselves benefiting from them in the future, 59% of these working mothers expressed their willingness to go above and beyond in their job performance, meaning that this group is likely to avoid adopting quiet quitting behaviors at work.

**Figure 1.** Reasons for working mothers not to take maternity leave.

**Figure 2.** If your company offered a paid maternity leave policy and you received benefits from the policy, do you believe you would have more motivation to "go above and beyond" in your job performance?

**Figure 3.** If your company offered a paid maternity leave policy but you did not have an opportunity to receive the benefits from the policy, do you believe you would have more motivation to "go above and beyond" in your job performance?

**Figure 4.** If your company offered a paid maternity leave policy and you believed you would benefit from it in the future, do you believe you would have more motivation to "go above and beyond" in your job performance?
