Parental leave system design impacts on its gendered use: Paternity leave introduction in Spain
Objective The article evaluates the 2007 introduction of nontransferable and fully paid paternity leave in Spain. Background Previous research has focused on paternity leave reforms, especially in the Nordic and continental countries. This article studies characteristics of the parental leave system...
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Published in | Family relations Vol. 73; no. 1; pp. 359 - 378 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Hoboken, USA
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
01.02.2024
National Council on Family Relations |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Objective
The article evaluates the 2007 introduction of nontransferable and fully paid paternity leave in Spain.
Background
Previous research has focused on paternity leave reforms, especially in the Nordic and continental countries. This article studies characteristics of the parental leave system design, including transferability, payment, and purpose of different types of leave for mothers and fathers in a Mediterranean country.
Method
We use a quasi‐experimental approach based on a sample of heterosexual dual‐earner couples with children born before and after the paternity leave introduction. We estimate differences in differences regression models.
Results
The 2007 reform caused a significant increase in fathers' number of days of parental leave. Most fathers used the whole nontransferable and fully paid paternity leave, but they hardly used transferable or unpaid leave. Mothers used all of these, especially paid leave.
Conclusion
The number of nontransferable fully paid days of parental leave provided by law approximates the actual number of days most fathers used.
Implications
The policy design matters. A design of equal, nontransferable, and fully paid leave for each parent is necessary for equal use by fathers and mothers—and thus for gender equality in families and work. |
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Bibliography: | Funding information Author note Special thanks go to Giorgia Iacopini for her patience, availability, and nuanced comments and suggestions. Thanks to Oliver von Schiller for his help in the editing process. We also thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their insightful comments and suggestions that greatly improved the article. Last but not least, we appreciate the fathers and mothers who answered the survey for allowing us to use their data for research. The survey used for this work was supported by the “Instituto de las Mujeres” (Women's Institute) of the Spanish Government under Grant 040/10. The “Survey of the Use of Parental Leave and Its Labor Consequences” http://www.ucm.es/data/cont/docs/85-2015-12-24-Microdatos.xlsx EUPPCL 2012) is available online This research was funded by the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation, Ministry of Science and Innovation, reference RTI2018‐094901‐B‐I00: “Gradual Equalization of Paternity Leave With Maternity Leave in Spain: Evaluation, Biases, Perspectives and Equality Policies” (2019‐2022). Encuesta sobre el uso de los permisos parentales y sus consecuencias laborales |
ISSN: | 0197-6664 1741-3729 0197-6664 |
DOI: | 10.1111/fare.12875 |