Using data on paid parental leave preferences from 35,488 adults situated within 26 different OECD countries, and multilevel modeling, this study examines public opinions about the provision of paid parental leave, some government funding of leave offerings, and preferred lengths of leave offerings. We consider how attitudes may be similar or different across social contexts and then focus upon the extent to which gender, gendered parenting role attitudes, family strains, and country-level institutionalized leave offerings are associated with leave preferences. The findings indicate that the vast majority of respondents are in favor of rather widespread and generous paid parental leave offerings; indeed, there are generally high levels of support for paid leave availability, relatively long paid leave offerings, and government funding of leaves. Gendered expectations and family strains are consistently associated with individuals’ leave preferences—even after accounting for country-level social contexts. Country-level offerings are also associated with leave preferences—yet, we find that the overwhelming majority of respondents express a desire for paid parental leave length offerings that are substantially different than the extant leave offerings in their country. Overall, this research complements previous work by newly documenting widespread public support for the provision of paid leave and some government funding of it. Also, it establishes that gendered expectations, family strains, and country-level practices are consistently associated with paid parental leave preferences in wealthy countries. Yet, substantial dissatisfaction with extant paid leave policies within countries seems to be commonplace.

本研究使用来自 26 个不同经合组织国家的 35,488 名成年人的带薪育儿假偏好数据和多层次模型，研究了公众对带薪育儿假的提供、政府对假期的一些资助以及假期的首选长度的意见。我们考虑不同社会背景下的态度如何相似或不同，然后关注性别、性别化育儿角色态度、家庭压力和国家级制度化休假与休假偏好的相关程度。调查结果表明，绝大多数受访者赞成相当广泛和慷慨的带薪育儿假；确实，对提供带薪休假、相对较长的带薪休假和政府资助休假的支持普遍较高。性别期望和家庭压力始终与个人的休假偏好相关——即使考虑到国家层面的社会背景。国家层面的产品也与假期偏好相关——然而，我们发现绝大多数受访者表示希望提供与他们国家现有的产假大不相同的带薪育儿假。总体而言，这项研究通过新记录广泛的公众支持提供带薪休假和一些政府资助来补充以前的工作。此外，它还确定性别期望、家庭压力和国家层面的做法始终与富裕国家的带薪育儿假偏好相关。然而，