A social right? Access to leave and its relation to parents’ labour market position

There is limited knowledge about eligibility for leave in general, and about leave rights of parents less securely attached to the labour market in particular. Consequently, social inequalities in access to leave rights remain hidden, which may be particularly pronounced in countries where stable employment is a principal condition to exercise leave rights. In this chapter, we develop an innovative conceptual framework based on the social rights literature, which takes into account how access to Parental Leave benefits is granted (in-) dependent of labour market position. Four ideal types are presented: the universal parenthood model, the selective parenthood model, the universal adult-worker model, and the selective adult-worker model. Finally, we illustrate these types with three country case examples of Parental Leave systems.

United Kingdom: leave policy and an attempt to take a new path

This chapter examines an attempt to transform UK leave policy, re-configuring it away from maternalism and towards greater gender equality, and why this attempted change of direction failed. It shows how the country introduced statutory leave at a late date, compared to other European countries, and adopted with little consideration a model centred on long and low paid Maternity Leave. After two decades of neglect, when leave policy came back onto the government’s agenda, this model became more established as Maternity Leave was further extended, while a newly introduced Parental Leave was marginalised. Attempted reform, in 2011-12, failed, due to insufficient support and understanding, leaving UK leave policy as a classic case of path dependency.

Introduction: much work still to do

Much effort is currently going into developing leave policies for early parenthood; the results, though, are variable and uneven, due in large part to the politics of leave policy, with many issues, as we have argued, left unresolved. Moreover, much policy-making energy is narrowly focused. Rather than recent developments in leave representing the final stages of what must be done, it is apparent that our societies are still only in the early stages of appreciating what can be done. With much of the current policy attention focused on leave for parents of young children, we have hardly begun to question what future directions policy should take if it is to respond to the wider changes and challenges that our societies face. In short, the scale of the transformation we need is large, yet only dimly apparent. It is these considerations – both detailed analysis and improvement of existing policies and thinking broadly about possible future directions for leave policy – that have motivated the writing of this book.

The workplace: challenges for fathers and their use of leave

Since 2006, the Québec Parental Insurance Plan has given fathers in this Canadian province the opportunity to take three to five weeks of paid Paternity Leave during the first year after the birth of a child; they can also use up to 25 or 32 weeks of Parental Leave, depending on the option chosen. Two exploratory qualitative research studies of fathers show that taking a Paternity Leave of five weeks is well accepted within the workplace, but the timing of the leave can be perceived as problematic. But fathers who choose to remain at home beyond the Paternity Leave must make more compromises with their employer, particularly, as this study shows, in the IT multimedia sector. They are often the first in their workplace to ask for and to take Parental Leave and can become an inspiration for other employees, but when they return to work, it can be difficult to follow the same rhythm as before and to be present for the same hours as others, especially when it comes to overtime. Faced by such difficulties, some fathers even reported changing their employer in order to better reconcile their work with their new family situation.

Gender equality: Parental Leave design and evaluating its effects on fathers’ participation

This chapter is about the design of Parental Leave policy and its relationship to leave-taking by fathers and gender equality more generally. The Nordic countries have historically emphasised gender equality in policymaking and have been in the forefront for introducing policies that encourage mothers and fathers to share responsibility for the care of children. Parental Leave is considered to be one such policy as it secures fathers’ rights to participate in the care of the child, with potentially long-term effects on their involvement with children and the division of unpaid and paid work. However, there are different designs for Parental Leave, and the chapter identifies the major dimensions in the design of Nordic Parental Leave policies and evaluates them in relation to their effect on gender equality. It also considers how to conceptualise and measure gender equality in association with Parental Leave.

Japan: leave policy and attempts to increase fathers’ take-up

This chapter is about the development of Parental Leave in Japan, and in particular efforts to increase take-up by fathers. Before the first legislation was agreed in 1991 under the LDP conservative government, there were repeated efforts to introduce legislation, in which the trade unions played an important role and with advocates referring to research on European countries and recommendations by international organisations. Most of the subsequent developments to Parental Leave were based on recommendations by official bodies consisting of representatives of employers, workers and public interests, then agreed by government and designed by civil servants. Today, fathers in Japan can take 12 months of paid leave, with six months paid at 67% of earnings, yet the take-up rate remains low, slightly over 3% of eligible fathers. The chapter argues that developments in leave policy have not been part of a broad and coordinated set of measures, combining Parental Leave policy with childcare policy, working hours legislation and changes to workplace culture. This has prevented the achievement of two stated goals, eliminating barriers for mothers to stay in the labour force and increasing fathers’ involvement in childcare and family life.

Poland: leave policy and the process and goals of a major reform1

The aim of this chapter is twofold. First, through the lens of the Multiple Streams Approach, it explains the successful introduction of the major Parental Leave reform undertaken in Poland in 2013 in terms of three streams - policies, problems and politics – and how they can combine together. Second, it assesses the solutions introduced by the reform with regards to one of the major aims of this reform, i.e. encouraging fathers to more thoroughly engage in childcare. By applying the Capability Approach, the chapter shows that the design of the reform did not take into account the economic and cultural conversion factors that create barriers for fathers to use this leave. As a result of those barriers, over 99% of users of the Parental Leave are mothers. The chapter concludes by arguing that in order to create real opportunities for fathers to go on leave a highly paid ‘daddy quota’ should have been introduced.

Parental Leave and beyond: recent international developments, current issues and future directions

This chapter investigates the recent developments and current issues around parental leave such as multiple rationales for leave, policy designs, the politics of flexibility and choice, eligibility (employment related entitlement or social right?), adapting policies to increasing diversity in employment and household type. In addition, it covers topics such as the relationship between parental leave, workplace and other policy areas, future directions for politics and policy for parental leave.

Care-work policies: conceptualising leave within a broader framework1

The central argument of this chapter is that statutory Parental Leave policy must be conceptualised within a broader framework of care-work policies and cultural ideas over care tasks. We propose a model based on structural and cultural dimensions. The former includes leaves (Maternity, Paternity, Parental), ECEC services, the relationship or gap between leave and ECEC entitlements, occupational welfare, and family structures (e.g. proportion of children living with two parents); the latter include levels of gender inequality and intergenerational solidarity orientation. Considering these six dimensions we focus on four countries, namely Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UK, representing well-established welfare regime models. Our analysis highlights how Germany and Sweden seem more similar than might be expected in light of established welfare regime models, while Italy and the UK are in contrast somewhat similar in terms of their Parental Leave models, whilst showing many differences in relation to other social actors involved in providing welfare goods.

What do people want? Leave policy preferences in different countries1

Leave schemes vary considerably across countries, notably regarding their duration and the extent to which mothers and fathers are encouraged to share them. This chapter analyses individuals’ attitudes toward leave duration and gender division of leave in 27 countries to examine whether these different institutional contexts influence leave policy preferences. It draws on representative sample data from the period 2012-2014 and uses descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses. Results show that paid leave is a well-accepted family policy instrument in Europe and beyond, but that stark differences exist across welfare regimes regarding what is considered a ‘good’ leave. Leave duration preferences range from about six months in liberal regimes, to roughly one year in social democratic and conservative ones, and up to two and three years in some post-communist regimes. Consensus is highest in post-communist and social democratic regimes, where leave has the longest history and is most institutionalised.