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Maternity leaves in Academia: Why are some UK universities more generous than others?

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  • Epifanio, Mariaelisa

    (University of Liverpool)

  • Troeger, Vera E.

    (University of Warwick)

Abstract

Statutory parental leave provisions in the UK are amongst the least generous as compared to other EU and OECD countries2 . That is why most companies and other institutions, such as universities, top these legal provisions up with more generous occupational parental leave packages (OMPs). Yet, they don’t do so uniformly. Indeed, the generosity of OMPs offered by HEIs across the UK differ greatly. This paper examines both theoretically and empirically why this is the case. We find that income of HEIs doesn’t make a difference but size in terms of number of employees as well as the student-to-staff ratio do. Our results also show that more research intense universities with a higher previous share of female professors and female academics at child-bearing age provide more generous maternity pay. We offer a range of explanations for these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Epifanio, Mariaelisa & Troeger, Vera E., 2018. "Maternity leaves in Academia: Why are some UK universities more generous than others?," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 365, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:365
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    Cited by:

    1. Meredith Nash & Brendan Churchill, 2020. "Caring during COVID‐19: A gendered analysis of Australian university responses to managing remote working and caring responsibilities," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 833-846, September.

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