Gender inequalities in labor market outcomes remain large across countries. Research suggests that paternity leave policies, which encourage men to take time off work after parenthood, have been ineffective in reducing gender pay gaps in labor market outcomes.
In the Barcelona School of Economics Working Paper 1463, “Fathers’ Time-Use while on Paternity Leave: Childcare or Leisure?” Libertad Gonzalez, Luis Guirola and Laura Hospido use data from the Spanish Social Security system to provide evidence of men using their paternity leave for leisure activities instead of childcare.
Men Are More Likely to Take Paternity Leave During the Summer
Descriptive evidence on the timing of leave shows a spike in paternity leave spells during the summer months, which is not observed in maternity leave spells (this pattern is also observed in Norway, see Andresen and Nix 2024).
Using regression analysis on the data from Spain, the authors of this study find that there are significantly more men on leave during the summer, relative to the rest of the year, and compared to women. This seems to indicate that men are using at least part of their paternity leave to extend their summer vacations. It is also consistent with men being more likely to pick up childcare tasks during the summer break in daycare centers.
Source: Spanish Social Security data
Fathers are also more likely to take some of their leave on a part-time basis, and to divide their leave in multiple periods. In contrast, mothers overwhelmingly take 16 uninterrupted weeks of full-time leave following birth.
These differential patterns of time use suggest a division of caregiving work where fathers have a subsidiary role.
Fathers Take Advantage of Paternity Leave for Activities Unrelated to Childcare
To study how fathers use their leave time, the authors looked at data from the period around the 2022 World Cup men’s soccer tournament, a major sports event with a large male following in Spain.
The figures below illustrate the results of three “differences-in-differences” comparisons during this period:
- Comparing the exact dates of the 2022 World Cup to the surrounding weeks and to the previous year
- Comparing men and women
- Comparing salaried men to self-employed men
Here is what these comparisons revealed about fathers’ use of paternity leave time:
- 1,100 more men on leave per day during the 2022 World Cup than there were during the same period in 2021 (an increase of 1.3%)
- Around 800 more men on leave per day during the 2022 World Cup relative to women (a 1% increase compared with the previous year). Alternative estimates range from 660 to 1,000 men and are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.
- Around 950 more salaried men than self-employed men on leave per day during the 2022 World Cup. This result corroborates the authors’ hypothesis that self-employed workers have greater discretion over their work schedules, which presumably makes it easier for them to adjust their leisure time for sports events, even when they are not officially on leave.
Note: Dots show the treatment effect estimated from the regression coefficient of the World Cup dates (20 Nov-18 Dec 2022) dummy (equation 1). The sample includes the stock of fathers on leave on each day of (October), November and December of 2021 and 2022. The regression includes fixed effects for year, day of the year, and day of the week. Solid and dashed vertical lines depict confidence intervals at 90% and 95%, respectively. The donut specification (on the right) excludes the seven days immediately before and after November 20 and December 18.
Note: Dots show the treatment effect estimated from the regression coefficient of the World Cup dates (20 Nov-18 Dec 2022) dummy interacted with the Men dummy (T in equation 2). The sample includes the stock of parents of each sex on leave for each day of (October), November and December of 2021 and 2022. The regression includes sex-specific fixed effects for year, day of the year and weekday. Solid and dashed vertical lines depict confidence intervals at 90% and 95%, respectively. The donut specification (on the right) excludes the seven days immediately before and after November 20 and December 18.
Note: Dots show the treatment effect estimated from the regression coefficient of the World Cup dates (20 Nov-18 Dec 2022) dummy interacted with a dummy for the Salaried Men (T in equation 2). The sample includes the stock of fathers of each employment status (salaried and self-employed) on leave for each day on each day of (October), November and December of 2021 and 2022. The regression includes salaried (vs self-employed) specific fixed-effects for year, day of the year and weekday. Solid and dashed vertical lines depict confidence intervals at 90% and 95%, respectively.
Paternity Leave Policies Alone Will Not Reduce Gender Inequalities
Ultimately, the authors of this study find evidence that there was a spike in men on paternity leave during the 2022 World Cup but no spike in women or self-employed men.
Despite the fact that the same amount of time is alloted for maternity and paternity leave, the results suggest that men are scheduling their paternity leave to coincide with leisure activities, and that women remain the main caregiver after the birth of a child.
Therefore, it seems that equal amounts of maternity and paternity leave may not lead to gender equality in the distribution of childcare responsibilities. Additional policies may be necessary in order to relax traditional gender roles at home and narrow the gap between labor market outcomes for women and men.
