Paternity Leave and Fathers' Responsibility: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Canada

Abstract

Objective This study uses a natural experiment in Canada to examine whether reserved paternity leave policy can increase fathers' involvement with their children. Background Although a growing body of research suggests that paternal leave‐taking is associated with increased father involvement, the causality of this relationship is unclear. Furthermore, leave‐taking may differently impact multiple dimensions of father involvement, including engagement (direct interaction with children), accessibility (time in children's presence), and responsibility (solo parenting time). Method Using two cross‐sectional waves of time diary data from the 2005 and 2010 Canadian General Social Survey, this study exploits the natural experiment of the reserved paternity leave policy introduced in the province of Quebec in 2006 compared to the shared parental leave benefits offered in the rest of Canada. Difference‐in‐differences methods are used to estimate the causal effect of the policy on multiple measures of father involvement. Results The reserved paternity leave policy led to a direct increase in fathers' responsibility time—2.2 additional hours of solo parenting time per week—but no direct effect on fathers' engagement or accessibility time. The findings also suggest that there may be indirect, contextual effects of the policy that have shifted the norms in Quebec regarding fathering. Conclusion This study concludes that reserved paternity leave can increase fathers' responsibility for children in ways that may benefit family well‐being and gender equality more broadly.

The Effect of Expanded Parental Benefits on Union Dissolution

“…These four mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and could be working together. In addition, all of these proposed mechanisms are consistent with recent research on the effects of QPIP—that the policy decreased sex specialization in both paid and unpaid work (Patnaik, 2019; Wray, 2020). Overall, the results show that the expanded parental benefits have strong medium‐term effects on union stability and highlight how family policy can encourage the second phase of the gender revolution.…”

“…In most contexts, there is evidence that these policies have led to more equal sharing of housework and/or care work. For example, policies in Norway and Québec led to parents doing more equal household labor (Kotsadam & Finseraas, 2011; Patnaik, 2019), and policies in Iceland and Québec led to children receiving considerable more care from their fathers (Arnalds et al, 2013; Wray, 2020). Only the German reform did not seem to affect how parents share childcare (Kluve & Tamm, 2013) and the evidence is mixed (Büninng, 2015).…”

The Division of Domestic Labor before and during the COVID‐19 Pandemic in Canada: Stagnation versus Shifts in Fathers’ Contributions

“…For one, significant progress toward equality in the division of household labor has been made in Canada over the past several decades, with fathers now spending about 45 percent of their total work hours (combined hours spent on paid labor, housework, and childcare) on domestic labor (Houle, Turcotte, and Wendt 2017). Recent work focused on identifying the causal impact of policies like reserved paternity leaves, which provide the opportunity for fathers to spend time away from paid work upon the birth or adoption of a child, and become immersed in the new needs of the family, show these factors can cause fathers to take up more childcare (Wray 2020). By extension, public health orders that pushed fathers home made them more available to take on additional domestic tasks.…”

Flexplace Work and Partnered Fathers’ Time in Housework and Childcare

“…Policies that support flexible work arrangements may facilitate men’s sharing of domestic tasks by increasing the time available to address both work and family obligations (Hill et al 2003). To the extent that workplace flexibility provides fathers with greater exposure to domestic work, men may become more aware and familiar with these tasks, potentially leading to greater time spent in domestic work (Bolzendahl and Myers 2004; Kroska and Elman 2009; Wray 2020). Indeed, the use of workplace supports can have lasting impacts on men’s involvement in domestic work, as shown by research on leave-taking (Bünning 2015; Kotsadam and Finseraas 2011; Petts and Knoester 2018; Petts, Knoester, and Waldfogel 2020; Tamm 2019).…”