Sharing Parental Leave Among Dual-Earner Couples in Canada: Does Reserved Paternity Leave Make a Difference?

Mayer, Molly; Bourdais, Céline Le

doi:10.1007/s11113-018-9497-x

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Household income is measured in categories following the recent Canadian research (Margolis et al, ): low income (<$30,000, reference category), middle income ($30,000–$79,999), high income ($80,000 or more), and missing responses (12% of cases). Fathers' educational attainment (less than high school, reference category; high school graduate; college diploma; university graduate) is positively associated with both their likelihood of taking leave (Mayer & Le Bourdais, ) and being involved fathers (Sayer, Bianchi, & Robinson, ). In addition to these covariates, I include fathers' age, immigrant status (Canadian born, reference category; born outside of Canada), the number of own household children, and whether the diary day was conducted on a weekday (reference category) or a weekend (Sayer et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reform increased leave uptake in Quebec from 21% of prereform eligible fathers to nearly 80% pos‐reform—a causal jump of 250% (Patnaik, )—whereas in the rest of Canada, leave uptake of fathers only changed from 11% to 13% (Statistics Canada, ). Although the duration of leaves also increased by 3 weeks, or 150% over the prereform average (Patnaik, ), on average, Quebec fathers limit their leave to the reserved period of 5 weeks (Mayer & Le Bourdais, ). Although Patnaik () found that the policy reform had significant, positive effects on the gendered division of paid work and housework, it did not have a direct effect on fathers' engaged child‐care time.…”

Section: The Case Of Quebec and Canadamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Socioeconomic characteristics as well as parenting and gender role attitudes jointly determine fathers' involvement with children and their likelihood of taking leave (Huerta et al, ; Margolis et al, ; Petts et al, ). This selection may be more pronounced in contexts with less generous leave policies that do not include reserved leave time for fathers (Margolis et al, ; Mayer & Le Bourdais, ; O'Brien, ). As such, this study examines the context of the province of Quebec, which provides a reserved paternity leave policy with a generous replacement rate and low eligibility criteria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wray

2020

J of Marriage and Family

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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.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Case Of Quebec and Canadamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Wray

2020

J of Marriage and Family

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“…A successful example can be found in Quebec, where in 2006 the government offered a separate paternity leave policy distinct from the policy in the rest of Canada. Quebec increased the wage replacement rate from 55% to 75% and introduced three weeks of leave for fathers only (commonly known as the father's quota or “daddy quota”) (Freeman, 2008; Mayer and Le Bourdais, 2019). This change increased fathers’ uptake of parental leave to 80%, compared to 50% in the rest of Canada (Mayer and Le Bourdais, 2019).…”

Section: The Problem: Ineffective Policy An Unreceptive Socio-culturmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quebec increased the wage replacement rate from 55% to 75% and introduced three weeks of leave for fathers only (commonly known as the father's quota or “daddy quota”) (Freeman, 2008; Mayer and Le Bourdais, 2019). This change increased fathers’ uptake of parental leave to 80%, compared to 50% in the rest of Canada (Mayer and Le Bourdais, 2019). This shows how a targeted intervention can influence individual behaviour (the micro level) by changing policy (the macro level) in an effective, measurable, and results-driven way.…”

Section: The Problem: Ineffective Policy An Unreceptive Socio-culturmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Parental Leave Uptake: A Systems Social Marketing Approach

Duffy

Esch

Yousef

2020

Australasian Marketing Journal

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Ineffective paid paternity leave policies perpetuate gender inequality and have significant, long-lasting outcomes for families, organisations, and the economy. They maintain unequal divisions in child-rearing and household chores that restrict families’ decisions about workforce participation and caring responsibilities. Low levels of uptake of paternity leave are caused by workplace practices, social norms, and economic factors that influence the choices fathers make when their children are born, and which become entrenched over time. Fathers’ early involvement in children's lives is profoundly beneficial for families, therefore, we recommend to policy makers and organisations how they can change internal workplace cultures to allow for a more inclusive image of parenting and a more nuanced image of the ideal male worker. We outline a systems social marketing approach that addresses change at the macro, meso and micro levels through the three E's model (establish, explore, and enable), to help policy makers, organisations, and families consider the implications of meaningful parental leave and the importance of increasing fathers’ uptake. Future research questions for increasing parental leave uptake are presented.

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Launching a Cross-disciplinary and Cross-national Conversation on Engaged Fatherhood

Grau‐Grau

Bowles²

2021

Engaged Fatherhood for Men, Families and Gender Equality

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The aim of this chapter is to explain the motivations for launching an international, cross-disciplinary conversation on fatherhood engagement. This volume stemmed from a Meeting of Experts from three sectors: Health and Wellbeing, Social Policy, and Work and Organizations. This chapter illuminates the unique learning opportunity afforded by coming together to examine the differential and common struggles across these three fields to support engaged fatherhood. The chapter is divided in four parts covering (1) the urgency and importance of supporting fatherhood engagement, (2) the benefits of studying and supporting fatherhood engagement from a cross-sectoral perspective, (3) the main contribution of each chapter in this volume, and (4) our grateful acknowledgements of the many people who made this collaboration possible.

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Sharing Parental Leave Among Dual-Earner Couples in Canada: Does Reserved Paternity Leave Make a Difference?

Cited by 16 publications

References 46 publications

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

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

Increasing Parental Leave Uptake: A Systems Social Marketing Approach

Launching a Cross-disciplinary and Cross-national Conversation on Engaged Fatherhood

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