ABSTRACT

Parental leave regulation is not gender-neutral. Policies that encourage fathers’ leave-taking relate to the enhancement of child well-being, caring fatherhood, and gender equality among the couple and in the workplace. There are various designs of parental leave policies, depending on a combination of factors, such as length, income replacement rate and the compulsory nature of leave. This article draws on data from the 16th International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research (2020) and analyses main features of parental leave policies in seven countries (Germany, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Israel, Japan and the United States), confronting it with recent research on the use of parental leave in those countries. Subsequently, the article provides evidence for the benefits of fathers’ uptake of paternity and parental leave and points out three features that leave policies must incorporate to promote gender equality and notes the importance of employers’ self-regulation.

摘要

育儿假监管不分性别。鼓励父亲请假的政策与增进孩子的幸福感，关爱父亲身份以及夫妻之间和工作场所的性别平等有关。育儿假政策的设计多种多样，取决于长短，收入替代率和休假的强制性等因素的综合影响。本文借鉴了《第十六届国际休假政策与相关研究评论》（2020年）中的数据，并分析了七个国家（德国，波兰，葡萄牙，瑞典，以色列，日本和美国）面对的育儿假政策的主要特征。最近在这些国家/地区使用育儿假的研究。随后，