Parent capability: A factorial survey experiment on the duration of parental leave

Abstract

We use Sen’s capability approach to identify factors able to increase the effective freedom of working parents when deciding the length of their parental leave. We conducted a factorial survey experiment (FSE) with a Spanish sample of employees aged between 25 and 45. Respondents were asked to imagine that they were first-time parents and several descriptions of hypothetical situations or vignettes (where aspects of the leave system, workplace and family environment were randomly varied) were presented to them. Our goal was to identify the causal effect of a number of dimensions on their hypothetical decisions about the total number of weeks they would be on parental leave. A longer statutory duration and a higher replacement rate (of the paid part of the leave), having job security, and a workplace with friendly practices and cultures, were found to have a significant positive impact on the duration of parental leave.