Paternity leave and the motherhood penalty : how within-couple inequality conditions policy impact
Marinova, Dani (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Bellón Jiménez, Pedro Manuel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques

Date:	2025
Abstract:	Motherhood-related labor market penalties remain a major driver of the gender employment gap. Father-specific paternity leave is often promoted as a policy tool to support maternal employment, yet evidence of its effectiveness is mixed. This article examines whether-and under what conditions-paternity leave reduces key dimensions of the motherhood penalty, including the timing of return to work, the terms of labor market reentry, and perceived professional sacrifice. We use original survey data from 1,800 mothers whose children were born before and after Spain's 2021 paternity leave reform, which granted fathers sixteen weeks of non-transferable leave, the same duration as maternity leave. Regression models show that equal, non-transferable paternity leave does not significantly shorten employment interruptions. The main exception are mothers earning roughly the same as their partners: they are significantly more likely to return earlier to full-time work after the reform and to report fathers' involvement as facilitator, attesting to the moderating role of intra-household equality on policy effects. However, mothers' perceptions of professional sacrifice remain largely unchanged after the reform. At least in the short term, father-specific entitlements alone appear insufficient to reduce the motherhood penalty, as its impact is constrained by pre-existing gender inequalities.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-119226GA-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PRE2021-100081
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Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió sotmesa a revisió
Subject:	Daddy quota ; Gender inequality ; Social investment ; Dual-earner/dual-carer model ; Policy feedback effects
Published in:	Social policy and administration, 21 November 2025, ISSN 1467-9515 ; 0144-5596

DOI: 10.1111/spol.70034

Preprint 28 p, 838.3 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Instituto de Gobierno y Políticas Públicas (IGOP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles