This article aims to understand how Spanish fathers construct and justify their decisions to use both paternity and parental leaves. Specifically, we analyse the fathers' discourse about paid work conditions, the couple's decision‐making process, formal and informal care resources, and care and gender equality. We divided responders according to the type of leave that they took and the length of time away from work; as a result, participants in this study were placed into three groups: (1) fathers who take 15 days off from work after childbirth, which are usually those who took only paternity leaves; (2) fathers who take off more than 1 month, which are usually fathers who also took parental leave; and (3) fathers who take off less than 5 days from work, which are fathers who do not take any official leave. We analyse 30 in‐depth interviews with Spanish fathers by applying a critical discourse methodology. The findings indicate that paternity leave is mostly considered a right, but not a duty, and the decision whether or not to use it is viewed as an individual choice. Fathers who take longer leaves judge time off from work not only as an individual right, but also as a duty to their families. These fathers show a low work‐connection discourse, an explicit rejection of other care resources, and a care‐sensitive attitude.

In Spain as in other countries

Spain underwent the transition from the male breadwinner to the dual-earner family model somewhat later than other developed countries. Change was most intense in the period of strong economic and employment growth between 1995 and 2007, with a reversal observed as unemployment rose from early 2008. The percentage of 25-to 49-year-old women in paid employment climbed from 39 % in 1995 to 66 % in 2007, receding to 61 % in 2012. As a result of the employment crisis, while male single-earner families with children under 6 are estimated to have dropped by 22 %, female single-earner families leapt by 181 % and families with no earners by 162 %. At the same time, the number of dual-earner families dipped by 4 % (MorenoMínguez 2015 ). In the wake of the economic crisis, employment has become a scarce and highly valued resource, shaping couples' strategies for reconciling family life and careers when faced with the need to protect their sources of income.While policies to further equality between the sexes have long been in place (the fi rst equality plan was introduced in 1989) and have explicitly pursued the harmonisation of work and family life, that challenge has yet to be systematically and comprehensively addressed. Debates around the question have been public and sensitisation programmes have been formulated, often under the umbrella of European initiatives, although only partial measures have been adopted (Meil 2006b ;Wall and Escobedo 2009 )

The transition to formal education is a critical transition in children's lives that has importance for socio-emotional and behavioral functioning. In the transition process, teachers are key players who work intensively with children and their families. This article focuses on teachers' perceptions of children´s socio-emotional behavior during the transition from preschool to primary school. We collected qualitative teacher interviews from 112 teachers from five different countries-Australia, China, Finland, Japan and Spain. The research questions were: (1) How do teachers in the five countries perceive children's abilities in expressing and regulating emotions. (2) How are children's emotions linked to their family relationships? (3) What similarities and differences across countries exist in teachers' perceptions of children's emotions? Overall, the interviewed teachers considered children's emotional skills of crucial importance in the first grade and emphasized the importance of teaching children emotional skills, emotion management and regulation. The teachers reported that children can be stressed, worried or anxious during the transition. The educators also reported that transitions in the family such as parental divorce, the birth of a sibling or the death of a family member can manifest in children at school as restlessness, excitement, sadness or instability. Similarities and differences in the emphasis placed on children's emotions by teachers were found across the five countries. We interpret these results to reflect differences in teacher education, school culture, resources and teachers' freedom of choice in the educational system in the different participating countries. These factors all impact on how teachers think about children and emotions.

Caring fatherhood in very traditional and masculinized environments has been under-researched. This study analyzed the experience of Spanish policemen who used parental leave to care for their babies alone while their partners returned to paid work. The aim was to ascertain whether use of parental leaves under those circumstances favors the development of caring masculinity. The qualitative methodology deployed consisted in semi-structured interviews conducted in 2014 with a sample of 15 policemen who took parental leave alone for at least 4 weeks while their partners returned to paid work. More specifically, the analysis addressed the respondents’ discourse on the justification of their decision to engage in this type of childcare, the workplace reaction to the decision, and their experience when fathering alone. The findings suggest that, even though hegemonic masculinity persisted in part of these fathers’ discourse and experience, engagement in such innovative practice tended to narrow the divide between traditional and caring masculinity. The conclusion drawn is that encouraging fathers to take leave to care for their children alone is a useful tool for furthering caring masculinity in highly masculinized environments.