Can an egalitarian reform in the parental leave system reduce the motherhood labor penalty? Some evidence from Spain

Abstract

The article analyzes how an egalitarian reform in the parental leave system may reduce the motherhood penalty. We used a sample of heterosexual dual-earner couples, with children between 3-8 years old, residing in Madrid and its metropolitan area. We show, first, that the introduction of a 13-day paternity leave increased significantly the average number of days that employed fathers were off work after the birth or adoption of a child. Second, we found some empirical evidence that fathers who took longer leaves tended to be subsequently more involved in the care of their children. And third, we obtained some evidence in favor of the hypotheses that when the father is actively involved in the care of his child the mother tends to experience less work penalty. We also considered the effect of other variables such as having egalitarian gender attitudes, working in a family-friendly company, earnings and the working week.

Why Is Part-time Unpaid Parental Leave (Still) Gendered? Narratives and Strategies of Couples in Spain

“…Our results confirm that the current Spanish parental leave policies are not enough to encourage fathers to take unpaid parental leave and advance towards greater gender egalitarianism. In light of the high levels of use of paid leave by men, not only in our sample but also based on aggregate data (Fernandez-Cornejo et al 2018), a paid gender-neutral parental leave system would be key. Gender-neutral policies might reduce the gap between fatherhood attitudes and behaviors, increase gender equality in Spanish households, and build stronger father-child bonds.…”

“…Even though fathers are entitled to 12 weeks of paternity leave since January 2020, they were entitled to only 15 days 2 when this study was conducted in 2012. This type of “daddy quota” is a use-it-or-lose-it right, and some studies have echoed the increasing use of paternity leave after the 2007 reform, wherein 13 days were added to the previous two days (Escot et al 2014, Fernández-Cornejo et al 2018). In addition, both parents are entitled to paid (breast)feeding leave.…”

Why do Spanish fathers still make little use of the family-friendly measures?

“…All this contributes to maintaining a marked gap between fathers’ theoretical rights to use FFM and their effective ability to use them. Or, to put it another way, this set of factors tends to reproduce a non-egalitarian model in the distribution of the use of FFM, where it is still mothers who assume most of the responsibilities for child care (and the use of FFM), thus encouraging the motherhood penalty and statistical discrimination (Fernández-Cornejo et al, 2018).…”

Reformar y evaluar el permiso de nacimiento y cuidado de menor para asegurar el objetivo de corresponsabilidad

“…Se observa que el uso de permisos más largos por parte de los padres favorece su mayor implicación en el cuidado posteriormente (Almqvist y Duvander, 2014;Arnalds et al, 2013;Duvander y Jans, 2008;Fernández-Cornejo et al, 2016, 2018Kotsadam y Finseraas, 2011) y esta mayor implicación reduce la penalización por maternidad (Johansson, 2010;Fernández-Cornejo et al, 2018). Este efecto duradero es debido a que el periodo inicial de cuidado afecta al vínculo entre padres e hijos y a su participación en el cuidado (Almqvist y Duvander, 2014;Fernandez-Cornejo et al, 2016;Haas y Rostgaard, 2011).…”

“…Sin embargo, pese a ese éxito que ya se predecía por la literatura de permisos que señala que los hombres usan los permisos no transferibles y bien remunerados (Castro y Pazos, 2016;Fernández Cornejo et al, 2018), existen usos diferenciados por sexo que ya se predecían por el diseño de la reforma y que ponen en compromiso los dos objetivos clave: apostar por la igualdad de género en el mercado de trabajo y hacer la participación laboral compatible con las necesidades de cuidado infantil, la denominada conciliación, o corresponsabilidad cuando se incide en garantizar la igualdad de género. ¿Y en qué sentido el uso es diferenciado entre hombres y mujeres?…”