Parental leave policies are often seen as an important tool for promoting gender equality, supporting families and improving work-life balance. Yet a new policy brief from the COST Action Parental Leave Policies and Social Sustainability (Sustainability@Leave), argues that formal rights alone are not enough to ensure equal outcomes.
Building on the findings of the report Mapping the Unknown: Research Gaps in Parenting Leave Inequality Research in Europe, the policy brief Parenting Leave Policies and Social Inequalities in Europe: Evidence, Blind Spots and Policy Direction examines who benefits from parental leave policies, who may be left behind, and what policymakers can do to make leave systems more inclusive.
The brief highlights a key message: parental leave policies can help reduce inequalities, but they can also reproduce them. Their impact depends not only on the existence of leave entitlements, but also on access, affordability and actual take-up across different groups of parents.
Research shows that inequalities emerge at several stages of the parental leave journey. Some parents face barriers in accessing leave because of eligibility requirements linked to employment history or contribution records. Others may be entitled to leave but cannot afford to take it because income replacement is too low. Workplace cultures and employer attitudes can also influence whether parents feel able to use their rights in practice.
While much of the existing research has focused on gender inequalities, particularly mothers’ and fathers’ use of leave, the brief points to important gaps in our understanding of how parental leave policies affect other groups. These include parents in precarious employment, self-employed workers, migrant families, parents with disabilities, and diverse family forms such as lone-parent, adoptive and same-sex families.
The brief also warns that current evidence remains limited when it comes to long-term outcomes. While researchers know a great deal about leave uptake and short-term labour market effects, there is less evidence on how parental leave influences long-term income, career progression, pensions, health and well-being across different social groups.
Among the findings highlighted in the brief is the importance of policy design. Well-paid and individual, non-transferable leave entitlements are associated with higher uptake among fathers and a more balanced sharing of care responsibilities. At the same time, low levels of compensation, restrictive eligibility rules and workplace barriers can limit access for those who may benefit most from parental leave.
The authors argue that policymakers should move beyond a narrow focus on statutory rights and instead consider how leave policies operate in practice. Creating more inclusive systems requires attention to the realities of different employment situations, household structures and care arrangements.
To strengthen the inequality-reducing potential of parental leave policies, the brief calls for inclusive eligibility rules, adequate income replacement, stronger support for leave uptake, and improved monitoring of who accesses and uses leave. It also recommends better data collection across Europe to help policymakers understand how parental leave affects different groups over time.
The brief further underlines the importance of monitoring the implementation of the EU Work-Life Balance Directive, not only in terms of legal compliance but also in terms of its real-world impact on families and inequalities.
Produced by the Sustainability@Leave COST Action, a European research network focused on parental leave policies and social sustainability, the policy brief contributes to ongoing discussions on how family policies can support more inclusive labour markets, greater gender equality and better outcomes for all families.
Read the full policy brief, Parenting Leave Policies and Social Inequalities in Europe: Evidence, Blind Spots and Policy Direction here.
