A newly published dataset in Demographic Research provides harmonised information on parenting leave policies across 21 European countries over more than five decades. The article is led by Sonja Spitzer and Adèle Lemoine, with contributions from an international team of researchers, including CHESS researchers Helena Honkaniemi and Sol P. Juárez.
Parenting leave policies shape how caregiving and paid work can be reconciled around the time of childbirth. These policies have important implications for fertility, employment and gender equality. However, quantitative cross-country data capturing long-term policy changes have been limited, particularly regarding how long parents can temporarily be away from work to care for their children and how leave can be shared between them.
The European Parenting Leave Policies (EPLP) Dataset provides harmonised information on maternity leave, co-parent leave, paid parental leave and job-protected leave across 21 European countries from 1970 to 2024. The dataset focuses on policies that shape how long birth mothers and their co-parents can take leave.
Statutory leave entitlements were compiled from national legal sources, official government publications and secondary literature. A consistent set of data collection rules was used to enable comparisons across countries and over time. Since the dataset focuses on time away from work, it includes only rights for employed parents.
The dataset includes 33 variables and documents country-specific reform timelines. In addition to leave duration and benefits, it covers policy instruments such as incentives for parents to share leave, as well as the timing and flexibility of leave use.
The EPLP Dataset fills a gap in existing data sources by providing quantitative data on parenting leave policies across 55 years. It enables cross-national comparisons, analyses of changes over time and studies of the effects of policy reforms.
Read more: https://www.demographic-research.org/articles/volume/54/31