A new study by US researchers supports the idea that the extension of paternity leave in many countries around the world challenges stereotypes and promotes gender equality both at home and at work.
In Belgium – where paternity leave was extended to 20 days (or 40 half days) on 1 January this year – the division of parental leave still remains unequal, with mothers entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave.
More than one in ten (13%) Belgians harbour outdated attitudes towards stay-at-home fathers, according to a recent 2019 Ipsos survey. Belgian respondents believed that a man who stays at home to look after the children is "less of a man."
Paternity leave has seen its duration lengthen in recent years in many countries around the world with the goal being to increase the involvement and role of the father from the earliest days of the child. This is seen as a benefit to the health and well-being of the child and helps to reduce certain inequalities between men and women, whether related to finances or mental strain.
Who benefits from a reform?
The researchers at Washington University in St. Louis wanted to focus on the impact of the extension of paternity leave on certain biases and on the support given to gender equality policies.
Basing their research on data coming from Estonia, where the new parental leave policy has tripled the allocation to 30 days paid at 100%, according to the European Parliament, the team of scientists conducted two studies in the country.
The first focused on parents and future parents who benefited from the reform and the second was conducted among a representative sample of the national population before the implementation of the reform.
The first survey suggested that parents affected by the reform have a greater propensity to support gender equality in social and economic spheres than others. The second showed that parents who had children after the reform were more likely to support women who wanted to pursue high-level careers.
