Factors affecting the length of unpaid parental leave in Spain

ABSTRACT

This study analyses the effect of working conditions, educational background, job mobility, grandparental availability and co-worker attitudes on the duration of unpaid parental leave in Spain. The length of parental leave is a key factor in both the work–family life balance and the furtherance of gender equality in childcare. The data for the analysis were drawn from a 2012 survey on the use of parental leave involving a nationwide sample of 4000 parents with at least one child under the age of 13. Multivariate models were built using logistic regression to analyse parental leave take-up and Cox proportional hazard regression to analyse leave duration (or survival) from a sub-sample of mothers. The results attest to the heavy impact of working conditions on the length of unpaid full- and part-time parental leave. The latter was observed to be taken also to adjust working hours to childcare demands when workplace flexibility or employer support for work–family balance was perceived to be lacking. Job security was found to be a primary determinant in the length of unpaid leave in Spain. The results suggest that longer full- but not part-time leave entails a substantial opportunity cost for the most highly qualified mothers.

KEYWORDS:

• Unpaid parental leave
• working conditions
• work–family balance
• family policy
• childcare

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study forms part of broader research on childcare for children under 7 in Spain (project CSO2017-84634-R) funded by the Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness.