Parental leave and wellbeing

Improving gender equality in parenting and working life has been a key objective of recent parental leave reforms in many countries. Nontransferable parental leave quotas for fathers are expected to promote fathers’ uptake of parental leaves and a more egalitarian sharing of parental responsibilities, thus reducing the gender gap in the labor market. While the labor market consequences of fathers’ parental leave-taking have received considerable research attention, less is known about the consequences on other dimensions of family wellbeing, which could also indirectly affect labor market outcomes. This research consists of four substudies, which aim to investigate the effects of fathers’ use of parental leave on the mental health of parents, gender norms, father-child relationships, and child wellbeing. We hypothesize that fathers’ parental leave use positively affects parental—especially mothers’—mental health, reduces gender stereotyping, strengthens father-child relationships, and improves children’s socio-emotional wellbeing. We explore different mechanisms (including maternal/paternal employment, household income, and marital satisfaction) that could explain observed effects. This research broadens knowledge on how fathers’ parental leave uptake may impact family wellbeing, and in turn, reduce the gender gap in the labor market.