本研究旨在探討臺灣育嬰留職停薪制度對家庭時間配置與幼兒發展之影響。隨著雙薪家庭普及，政策資源在使用上常呈現階層化趨勢，過往研究多聚焦於使用率，鮮少深入剖析「形式請假」如何轉化為「實質陪伴」，以及此機制在不同社經背景下的差異化紅利。 本研究採用「臺灣幼兒發展調查資料庫」(Kids in Taiwan: National Longitudinal Study of Child Development and Care， KIT) 資料，運用事後分層加權與交乘項模型進行實證分析。研究核心有四點：首先分析社經背景與職場限制對育嬰假請假行為之決定機制；其次檢視育嬰假與家長「每日實質陪伴時間」之關聯；再者檢視該制度對幼兒 36 月齡在認知、語言、社會情緒及身體動作四大發展向度之關聯性與潛在補償效果；最後，探討制度使用與家長主觀支持感之關聯。 實證結果顯示，家戶時間資本與社經地位顯著形塑了政策的實質紅利，女性為主要使用者，但高階專業女性深受密集母職觀念與職場斷鏈懲罰的雙重壓力，被迫折衷縮短請假時長；父親的參與則持續受制於長工時文化，唯有母親職場地位的對等性提升，方能真正鬆動單一照護框架，推動雙親共同投入。 順應上述的制度使用情境，制度效益的展現關鍵在於釋放出的時間資源是否確實轉化為高品質的每日實質陪伴。結果顯示育嬰假本身並不直接保證幼兒發展提升，其實效具有顯著的領域選擇性。母親的請假對幼兒認知發展的紅利在跨越門檻後趨於穩定，而父親的參與則高度仰賴每日陪伴時長的邊際累積，透過高密度的體能互動，催化了幼兒在物理動作層面的成熟。 此外，針對面臨特殊照顧需求者，制度展現出潛在的代償效果。儘管在統計模型中，雙親皆長期請假的配置表面上呈現負向衝擊，但這實質反映了此類家庭常面臨幼兒健康弱勢或重大變故的選擇性偏差。一旦這群家庭能透過假期投入高密度的每日陪伴，數據隨即反映出強勁的邊際加乘紅利，顯示制度資源確實具備緩解家庭先天劣勢的支撐效能。 然而在上述效益的背後，研究也反映出政策支持體系的局限性。育嬰假的使用與家長較低的主觀支持感呈現正相關，顯示制度往往是被迫作為托育服務不足時的替代性方案。特別是初為人父母的頭胎家庭、高齡父母以及僅由母親請假的家庭，因缺乏資源與試錯成本高昂，極易產生支持不足的剝奪感。這種制度使用與主觀需求之間的落差，不僅突顯了現行支持系統的缺口，更顯示了育嬰假必須與公共托育資源同步整合的政策必要性。 本研究釐清了育嬰假、親職陪伴與幼兒發展間的實證路徑，並為 2026 年彈性育嬰假新制提供基期對照。研究建議未來應針對弱勢家庭設計差異化支持機制，以確保制度紅利能公平滲透至各階層，提升家庭福祉與幼兒發展品質。;This study examines the effects of Taiwan’s parental leave system on family time allocation and early childhood development. With the growing prevalence of dual-earner families， access to policy resources has become increasingly stratified. Previous studies have mainly focused on parental leave uptake， with limited attention to how formal leave-taking is translated into actual parental engagement and whether these benefits vary across socioeconomic groups. Using data from the Kids in Taiwan: National Longitudinal Study of Child Development and Care (KIT)， this study applies post-stratification weighting and interaction models for empirical analysis. The study focuses on four aspects: first， identifying how socioeconomic backgrounds and workplace constraints influence parental leave-taking; second， examining the association between parental leave and parents’ actual daily time spent with children; third， exploring its associations with children’s developmental outcomes at 36 months across cognitive， language， social-emotional， and motor domains， including potential compensatory effects for disadvantaged families; and fourth， exploring the relationship between parental leave use and parents’ perceived support. The findings indicate that household time resources and socioeconomic status significantly shape the realized benefits of parental leave. Women remain the primary users of parental leave; however， highly educated and professional women face dual pressures from intensive mothering expectations and potential career penalties associated with workplace disengagement， leading them to compromise by shortening their leave duration. Fathers’ participation continues to be constrained by long working-hour cultures. Only when mothers’ workplace status becomes more equivalent to that of fathers can the traditional single-caregiver framework be effectively challenged and dual-parent involvement be promoted. Consistent with these patterns of institutional use， the effectiveness of parental leave depends on whether the released time resources are successfully transformed into high-quality daily parental engagement. The results show that parental leave itself does not automatically enhance child development， and its effects are domain-specific. Mothers’ leave-taking is associated with cognitive developmental benefits that stabilize after a certain threshold of engagement is reached， whereas fathers’ involvement depends strongly on the cumulative effects of daily interaction time. Through intensive physical activities and play， fathers’ greater engagement contributes particularly to children’s motor development. Furthermore， among families facing special caregiving demands， parental leave demonstrates potential compensatory effects. Although the statistical models suggest that long-term leave taken by both parents is associated with negative developmental outcomes， this pattern likely reflects selection bias， as these families are more likely to experience children’s health disadvantages or major family disruptions. Once these families are able to devote high levels of daily parental engagement through leave-taking， the results reveal substantial marginal benefits， suggesting that parental leave can serve as a supportive mechanism to alleviate pre-existing family disadvantages. Nevertheless， the study also highlights limitations within the broader policy support system. The use of parental leave is positively associated with lower levels of parents’ perceived support， suggesting that parental leave is often utilized as a substitute when childcare services are insufficient rather than as a fully supported choice. First-time parents， older parents， and families in which only mothers take leave are particularly vulnerable to feelings of inadequate support due to limited resources and higher costs of trial and adjustment. This gap between policy utilization and perceived needs underscores the insufficiency of the current support system and highlights the necessity of integrating parental leave policies with accessible public childcare resources. This study clarifies the empirical pathways linking parental leave， parental engagement， and early childhood development， and provides a baseline reference for evaluating Taiwan’s 2026 flexible parental leave reform. The findings suggest that future policies should incorporate differentiated support mechanisms for disadvantaged families to ensure that the benefits of parental leave are distributed more equitably across social groups， thereby enhancing family well-being and improving the quality of early childhood development.
