Expansion of paternity leave increases number of fathers using it, now exceeds mothers

According to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IEF), Between 2016 and 2022, the percentage of fathers using their paternity leave increased from 60.8% to 73.4%. In contrast, the percentage of mothers remained relatively stable, increasing slightly from 64.1% to 66.4%.

In round numbers, In 2022, 238,621 men and 215,736 women used the permit. It should be remembered that men are the majority among employees (54.1% of the total in 2022) and that, therefore, there are more fathers than mothers who work. Precisely, the greater male presence in the labor market is due to the fact that it is more common for women to abandon their careers to devote themselves to caregiving.

However, the male presence in 2016 was greater (54.5%) and more mothers (258,057) than fathers (244,762) took leave.

The report shows that the key to this increase in the use of paternity leave among men lies in three essential elements of its design: equality, non-transferability and 100% remuneration. These factors have removed traditional barriers that discouraged men from taking an active role in parenting, thereby facilitating greater co-responsibility.

Since the implementation of the reform in 2021, fathers have not only been using their paternity leave more, but the majority of them are using all the weeks to which they are entitled. In 2022, 91.2% of parents used all available weeksa significant increase compared to the 89.5% recorded in 2021.

Mothers, for their part, have traditionally used all of their leave, with 99% of full use in 2022.

The report also highlights that the average number of days used by parents has increased significantly in recent years. While In 2016, fathers took an average of 15 days of leave, in 2022 this average rises to 109 days.. In this way, the time that men and women spend caring for their children is equalized.

According to the study, this change in the patterns of use of parental leave has implications not only for co-responsibility within the household, but also for the labour market and gender equality. Greater male participation in childcare helps reduce ‘discrimination’ against women in the workplaceparticularly in terms of hiring and promotion.

In other words, it decreases the “maternity penalty”since both parents assume custodial responsibilities more equally.

However, the report states that There are still challenges in the way parents use their leave. 50% of fathers take leave at the same time as the mother, which reduces the total duration of home care, and only 20% choose to share itusing the mandatory six weeks after delivery and the remainder when the mother has already returned to work.

The split use of the permit allows extend the duration of home care to 26 weekspromoting greater involvement of the father in the role of primary caregiver.

However, this modality of change presents an income bias. According to the report, Low-income parents less likely to use staggered leavedue to a lack of negotiation skills with their employers. While in the highest income deciles, 30% of parents opt for this type of usage, in the first two deciles, this percentage falls to 10%.

Given these results, the authors of the report suggest a Revision of parental leave design to encourage use of shift workinstead of simultaneity. Indeed, in the conclusions they explain that “the difficulties that fathers encounter in taking turns using their leave with the mother lead them to continue in their role as caregiver instead of assuming the role of main caregiver, which opens up a possibility for change and improvement in the design of permits”.

One possible change, they point out, could be to reduce the requirement to take the first weeks simultaneously from six to two weeks, and facilitate the division of the remainder of the permit without the need for an agreement with the companywhich would allow for greater flexibility and shared responsibility in care.