Consequences Paternity Leave on Allocation of Childcare and Domestic Tasks

Abstract

One of the main objectives of parental leave policies aimed exclusively
at fathers is to promote gender equality in the productive and
reproductive spheres. The aim of this study is to examine whether the
use of paternity leave fosters greater involvement of fathers in the
division of tasks within the reproductive sphere, specifi cally child care
and housework. Based on data from the survey, “Social use of parental
leave in Spain, 2012”, we have created multivariate models using
ordinary least squares regression. The sample used in the analysis
consists of 600 fathers who have had at least one child since 2007. The
results suggest that paternity leave does encourage greater
involvement by fathers in childcare, but the effect is limited, as it is only
found for fathers after the birth of their fi rst child.