Fathers at work: explaining the gaps between entitlement to leave policies and uptake

Abstract

Why are fathers in Scotland unlikely to use the full range of leave benefits available to them? Taking a capabilities approach allows us to explore the perspective that some fathers may experience an agency gap and thus not have the capabilities to utilise entitlements. This paper addresses the question empirically using a mixedmethods design which includes: analysis of data from the Growing up in Scotland study; 20 in-depth qualitative interviews with fathers of young children working in the public sector in dual-earner couples, as well as; an audit of extra-statutory benefits offered to fathers by employers. We argue that the reliance on an extrastatutory leave system in the UK explains at least part of the gap between fathers' entitlement to and uptake of statutory leave, as such benefits are not routinely available to all parents. The extra-statutory entitlement is more than just a 'top up' to the statutory; it is rather a conversion factor for the take up of statutory entitlement, by fathers. Organisational cultural norms support many employed fathers in taking a couple of weeks leave post-birth, but longer leave duration for fathers is not yet a usual parenting practice in Scotland, particularly lower down the income distribution.

Fathers’ Parental Leave Uptake in Belgium and Sweden: Self-Evident or Subject to Employment Characteristics?

“…Research of Geisler and Kreyenfeld (2018) and Patnaik (2018) on policy reforms with respect to parental leave, i.e., increasing the replacement benefits and introducing (longer) 'daddy quotas' in Germany and Quebec, for example, shows a significant increase in fathers' leave use after these reforms. Also research on the UK underlines the need for a statutory individual entitlement to well-paid leave in view of obtaining higher male parental leave uptake (Fox et al 2009;Koslowski and Kadar-Satat 2019). Furthermore, especially higher flexibility-e.g., uptake in days or even hours, such as in Sweden-may be key to increase fathers' parental leave use in countries with low levels of uptake by fathers as it reduces the income loss and time of absence from the workplace in case of parental leave uptake.…”

‘You Scratch My Back and I’ll Scratch Yours’? Support to Academics Who Are Carers in Higher Education

“…More specifically, there is an apparent contradiction between academic caregivers' construction of state and institutional support to carers as a legitimate area for policy intervention, and their reluctance, more or less exacerbated depending on their 'other' identities, to taking up the policies and provision available to them. This reluctance to use institutional support (when it is available) and the related preference for inter-personal, individualised arrangements are likely to be compounded by several factors and linked to cultural norms at play at a societal and institutional level (Koslowski and Kadar-Satat 2019). First, reluctance needs to be related to the provision in place, with participants often commenting that these provision and policies do not meet their needs.…”

Fathering and Flexible Working Arrangements: A Systematic Interdisciplinary Review

“…Additionally, the reference lists from key articles identified through the search process were also examined for any relevant articles that had not already been identified. The years 2008-2019 were chosen because they provided roughly a decade of research during which there has been increased interest in the issue of fathering and flexible work (Kossek, 2010(Kossek, , 2018Williams, Berdahl, & Vandello, 2016); work-family policy across many Westernized countries (Koslowski & Kadar-Satat, 2019;O'Brien, 2009); and various significant socioeconomic changes, such as the global recession of 2008 (Sigurdardottir & Garðarsdóttir, 2018). Several factors have driven increased interest in flexible working for fathers during this period, including an increased understanding of the benefits derived from father involvement and the way men's flexible working may facilitate gender equality.…”