How policy matters: Germany’s parental leave benefit reform and fathers’ behavior 1999-2009

Geisler, Esther; Kreyenfeld, Michaela

doi:10.4054/mpidr-wp-2012-021

Cited by 32 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…With respect to parental leave policies, several features have been found to significantly affect the level of uptake: (i) whether the income replacement benefit is sufficiently high, (ii) whether at least a part of the leave is strictly reserved for the father, and (iii) the flexibility of the leave (Ciccia and Verloo 2012;Geisler and Kreyenfeld 2012;Mussino et al 2018;Patnaik 2018). These policy design features influence micro-economic considerations (income loss) as well as more normative considerations, e.g., the sense of entitlement to the leave as it is strictly reserved for the father.…”

Section: Institutional Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A limited, yet growing, body of literature documents these mechanisms and increasingly focuses on fathers' leave uptake in particular (Duvander 2014;Lappegård 2012;O'Brien and Wall 2017;Wood and Marynissen 2019). These studies identify partners' earnings (Lappegard 2008;Sundström and Duvander 2002), workplace characteristics (Bygren and Duvander 2006;Reich 2010), potentially gendered parenting norms and institutions (Wood and Marynissen 2019), and parental leave policy designs (Geisler and Kreyenfeld 2012;Mussino et al 2018) as determinants of fathers' parental leave use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fathers’ Parental Leave Uptake in Belgium and Sweden: Self-Evident or Subject to Employment Characteristics?

et al. 2019

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The limited increase in fathers’ involvement in childcare tasks in response to the unprecedented rise in female labour market participation illustrates the incomplete nature of the gender revolution. Available research provides evidence for micro-economic mechanisms and the influence of gender norms and social policy design on couples’ gendered divisions of parental leave, but knowledge on how national level contexts shape partners’ agency remains limited. Hence, comparative research from different national contexts is needed. This paper examines the association between fathers’ pre-birth income and workplace characteristics, and whether they take up parental leave after the birth of their first child in Belgium and Sweden by using detailed longitudinal register data from Sweden and Belgium. Results show that, whereas an opportunity cost logic seems to underlie fathers’ parental leave decisions in Belgium, gender equality in contributing to the household income yields the highest probability of fathers’ parental leave uptake in Sweden. Furthermore, in Sweden, fathers’ employment characteristics are more strongly associated with whether fathers’ take leave longer than the quota than whether fathers take any leave at all. The different mechanisms in Belgium and Sweden suggest that the design of leave policies and the broader normative and institutional national level context moderate couples’ parental leave uptake decisions.

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Section: Institutional Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathers’ Parental Leave Uptake in Belgium and Sweden: Self-Evident or Subject to Employment Characteristics?

et al. 2019

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“…Busch and Holst 2011;Cha 2013;Maume 1999). Likewise, depending on the degree to which jobs are either male-or female-dominated, long family leave-particularly among fathers-may be uncommon and therefore conspicuous (Geisler and Kreyenfeld 2012;Pfahl and Reuyß 2009).…”

Section: Experimental Treatment and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Damned if you do, damned if you don't? Experimental evidence on hiring discrimination against parents with differing lengths of family leave

Hipp¹

2018

Preprint

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This study examines how changes in the traditional division of childcare responsibilities affect mothers’ and fathers’ likelihood of getting a job. Can women overcome motherhood penalties by quickly returning to their jobs after childbirth? Do employers discriminate against fathers who take extended family leave? To answer these questions, I exploit some unique features of the parental leave system and job application process in Germany. The findings from my field experiment show that mothers who take nothing beyond the mandatory leave of two months are 50 percent less likely to be invited to a job interview than mothers who stay home for a year after childbirth. There is, however, no difference between fathers with short vs. long leave. With my laboratory experiment I disentangle the underlying mechanisms for these findings. Employers may value different traits in fathers with short and long family leave, which in sum tend to cancel each other out but discriminate against mothers who “lean in” and “act like men” for violating prevailing gender norms.

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“…The analysis focuses on changes in domestic work after the parental leave reforms in 1992 and 2007, as these two reforms pursued contrasting policy objectives and the latter reform may be regarded as a critical juncture in German family policy. Several previous studies have documented that these reforms affected leave take-up by mothers and fathers (Geisler and Kreyenfeld, 2012; Schoenberg and Ludsteck, 2007; Wrohlich et al ., 2012).…”

Section: Parental Leave and Other Family-friendly Provisions In Germanymentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Leave and Domestic Work of Mothers and Fathers: A Longitudinal Study of Two Reforms in West Germany

Schober

2014

J. Soc. Pol.

104

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Following two parental leave reforms in West Germany, this research explores how child care and housework time changed among couples who have just had a child. The reform in 1992 extended the low paid or unpaid parental leave period, whereas the 2007 reform introduced income-dependent compensation and two ‘daddy months’. This study contributes to the literature by examining different mechanisms on how these reforms were associated with domestic work time in couples. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1990–2010), the analysis applies ordinary least square (OLS) regressions and difference-in-difference estimations. The findings point to a significant reduction in paternal child care time eighteen to thirty months after childbirth among couples with children born after the 1992 reform. The 2007 reform was associated with increased child care time of fathers in the first year and eighteen to thirty months after the birth. Changes in maternal child care and both partners’ housework were not statistically significant. Alterations in maternal and paternal labour market participation, wages and leave taking accounted for most of the observed variations in paternal child care except for eighteen to thirteen months after the 2007 reform. This unexplained variance may point to a normative policy effect.

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How policy matters: Germany’s parental leave benefit reform and fathers’ behavior 1999-2009

Abstract: Working papers of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research receive only limited review. Views or opinions expressed in working papers are attributable to the authors and do not necessarily refl ect those of the Institute.

Cited by 32 publications

References 44 publications

Fathers’ Parental Leave Uptake in Belgium and Sweden: Self-Evident or Subject to Employment Characteristics?

Fathers’ Parental Leave Uptake in Belgium and Sweden: Self-Evident or Subject to Employment Characteristics?

Damned if you do, damned if you don't? Experimental evidence on hiring discrimination against parents with differing lengths of family leave

Parental Leave and Domestic Work of Mothers and Fathers: A Longitudinal Study of Two Reforms in West Germany

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