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Fathers, Parental Leave and Gender Norms

Author

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  • Unterhofer, Ulrike

    (University of Basel)

  • Wrohlich, Katharina

    (DIW Berlin)

Abstract

Social norms and attitudes towards gender roles have been shown to have a large effect on economic outcomes of men and women. Many countries have introduced policies that aim at changing gender stereotypes, for example fathers' quota in parental leave schemes. In this paper, we analyze whether the introduction of the fathers' quota in Germany in 2007, that caused a sharp increase in the take-up of parental leave by fathers, has changed the attitudes towards gender roles in the grandparents' generation. To this end, we exploit the quasi-experimental setting of the 2007 reform and compare grandparents whose son had a child born before the 2007 reform to grandparents whose son had a child born after it. Our results suggest that such policy programs not only induce direct behavioral responses by the target group but also have indirect effects on non-treated individuals through social interaction and can thus change attitudes towards gender roles in a society as a whole.

Suggested Citation

  • Unterhofer, Ulrike & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2017. "Fathers, Parental Leave and Gender Norms," IZA Discussion Papers 10712, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10712
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    Cited by:

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    2. Benedikt Gerst & Christian Grund, 2023. "Gender-Specific Duration of Parental Leave and Current Earnings," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 215-235, February.
    3. Gerst, Benedikt & Grund, Christian, 2020. "Gender-Specific Duration of Parental Leave and Current Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 13216, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Roth, Anja, 2019. "How the provision of childcare affects attitudes towards maternal employment," Working papers 2019/22, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    5. Jessen, Jonas, 2022. "Culture, children and couple gender inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    6. Christina Boll & Simone Schüller, 2023. "The Economic Well-Being of Nonresident Fathers and Custodial Mothers Revisited: The Role of Paternal Childcare," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 836-853, December.
    7. Daniele Vignoli & Anna Matysiak & Marta Styrc & Valentina Tocchioni, 2018. "The positive impact of women’s employment on divorce: Context, selection, or anticipation?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(37), pages 1059-1110.
    8. Martina Querejeta Rabosto & Estefanía Galván & Cecilia Parada & Soledad Salvador, 2021. "Gender Gaps and Family Policies in Latin America," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4509, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    9. Anja Roth, 2020. "How the provision of childcare affects attitudes towards maternal employment," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 156(1), pages 1-30, December.
    10. Carolin Scheifele & Melanie C Steffens & Colette Van Laar, 2021. "Which representations of their gender group affect men’s orientation towards care? the case of parental leave-taking intentions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-35, December.
    11. Canaan, Serena & Lassen, Anne Sophie & Rosenbaum, Philip & Steingrimsdottir, Herdis, 2022. "Maternity Leave and Paternity Leave: Evidence on the Economic Impact of Legislative Changes in High Income Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 15129, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Sophia Schmitz & C. Katharina Spieß, 2021. "The Importance of Mothers-in-Law's Employment for Their Daughter-in-Law's Labour Market Outcomes in West-Germany: Results and Mechanisms," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1932, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    parental leave; gender equality; social norms; social interaction; policy evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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