Capturing the Gender Gap in the Scope of Parenting Related Leave Policies Across Nations

Abstract

This article contributes to the conceptual and technical development of cross-national measurement and analysis of the gender gap in the scope of parenting related leave entitlements. That there is a gender gap in the scope of leave benefits is widely acknowledged, but it is rarely quantified. The nomenclature in use around leave policies is diverse and so a first step is to standardise categories and develop a unit of parenting related leave. There is considerable cross-national variation in the configuration of the scope of leave policies. As such, a second step is to consider how best to include the different dimensions of this scope (e.g., duration, payment level, individual parent versus family design) in an estimate of the gender gap in entitlement. Using data collated by the International Network on Leave Policies and Research, a gender gap indicator is created to contribute to our understanding of the inclusiveness of parenting related leave for men as compared to women. This indicator highlights that only two (Iceland and Norway) of 45 countries included in this analysis had achieved a zero-gender gap in terms of entitlement to ‘well-paid,’ individual parenting related leave during the first 18 months of a child’s life. The average gender gap for the countries in the analysis is between two to three months. Only seven countries offered more than two months leave to fathers as an individual entitlement. This is likely to be part of the explanation in many countries for lower leave taking practice by men compared to women.

Online media experiences of caregiving fathers: A study of leave‐taking fathers in South Korea

“…However, in recent decades, there have been notable advancements in critical studies of men and masculinities and also attention to and research on fathers who engage in caregiving. This has also coincided with the introduction of policy initiatives around the world aimed at engendering caring men and equalizing caring duties, most notably incentives for fathers to take childcare leave (Koslowski et al, 2021; O'Brien & Wall, 2017).…”

Access to parenting leaves for recent immigrants: a cross-national view of policy architecture in Europe

“…In particular, we map the levels of entitlement and levels of benefit for parenting leaves in 2021 with the focus being on the first 12 months after birth. The International Review of Leave Policies and Research 2021 (Koslowski et al, 2021) is an open access collection of country level information about leave policies and other support available for parents and cross-national tables. It is compiled by multiple contributors who are country experts.…”

“…Parenting leave is an umbrella term for policies that provide parents with the time to care for their infants whilst enjoying employment protection and (sometimes) financial benefits and includes maternity, paternity and parental leaves (O´Brien & Moss, 2020). Parenting leave is now an established government policy practice and non-controversial across Europe, although there is much cross-national variation in policy design and implementation (Koslowski et al, 2021). Some countries have multiple types of leave available to parents, while some have only one, primarily parental leave.…”

“…In countries where leave is similarly available to both mothers and fathers, there has been a steady increase in fathers using the leave, but mothers use more leave than fathers in all countries. In other countries, where fathers have much less entitlement to leave than mothers, they logically take less leave as compared to mothers (Koslowski, 2021).…”

Review article: Parenting leaves, workplace characteristics, male health, and the pandemic: Currents in policy-related fatherhood research in higher income countries

“…In Spain, leave has become mandatory for all eligible parents (Meil et al, 2021) and Germany has included an incentive for fathers to take leave (Bünning, 2019). In a review of nearly 50 high and middle-income countries, only seven countries offered more than two months paid leave to fathers in 2020 as an individual entitlement -so in other words, the vast majority of countries have gender inequality built in (Koslowski, 2021). However, in the relatively small number of countries where leave is similarly available to both mothers and fathers, there has been a steady increase in fathers using the leave, although mothers continue to use more leave than fathers in all countries.…”