Mapping the Unknown: Research Gaps in Parenting Leave Inequality Research in Europe

This report was produced within COST Action CA21150 “Parental Leave Policies and Social Sustainability (Sustainability@Leave)”, Working Group 2, and provides a systematic assessment of knowledge gaps in European research on parenting leave and social inequalities.
Parenting leave policies constitute a key pillar of social sustainability, with demonstrated relevance for gender equality, labour market participation, health, and child well-being. While European research on parenting leave has expanded significantly over recent decades, the available evidence remains fragmented and uneven. Drawing on a narrative review of more than 400 publications from 24 European countries, this report maps which dimensions of inequality have been most extensively studied and identifies where substantial blind spots persist across countries, social groups, and levels of analysis.
The review shows that research has focused predominantly on gender, particularly mothers’ employment trajectories and fathers’ take-up of leave. By contrast, other crucial dimensions of inequality, including health, disability, well-being, citizenship, ethnicity, non-standard employment, and diverse family forms, remain marginal in the literature. In addition, most studies implicitly centre on parents in stable, standard employment, resulting in limited evidence on the experiences of precarious workers, the self-employed, migrants, and low-income families. These biases restrict the capacity of current research to evaluate whether parenting leave policies reduce inequalities broadly or primarily benefit already advantaged groups.
The report makes a central contribution by systematically linking policy design features (eligibility rules, benefit levels, individualisation, flexibility) with policy outcomes (leave take-up and longer-term inequality effects) and by highlighting the need for more intersectional, multi-level, and comparative research. It demonstrates that although a gender lens remains central to parental leave policies, future research should adopt a broader perspective to examine how multiple inequalities intersect. Strengthening data infrastructures, improving the measurement of leave use, and integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches are essential for advancing policy-relevant evidence.
Policy recommendations emphasise the importance of inclusive parenting leave designs that
accommodate diverse employment trajectories, ensure adequate income replacement, and support individual entitlements for both parents. The report also underlines the need for systematic monitoring of the EU Work–Life Balance Directive, not only in terms of legal compliance but with regard to its distributional effects across social groups and countries. By identifying where evidence is missing, this report provides a strategic agenda for future research aimed at improving the inequality-reducing potential of parenting leave policies in Europe.
Key Messages
1. Policy design matters, but effects are not automatic.
Parenting leave influences inequalities primarily through behavioural responses shaped by incentives and constraints. Generous earnings-related benefits, individual and non-transferable entitlements, and flexible arrangements are consistently associated with higher paternal takeup and reduced gender inequalities. However, formal entitlements do not guarantee equal outcomes if workplace practices, household income structures, and gender norms constrain effective use.
2. Reducing gender inequality requires shifting from “formal equality” to “effective equality.”
Many Member States offer formally gender-neutral rights, yet women remain the primary users and men often limit leave to minimum quotas. Policies should therefore be assessed by take-up patterns and consequences, not by statutory provisions alone. Monitoring frameworks should prioritise behavioural indicators of equality, including fathers’ take-up beyond minimum entitlements.
3. Eligibility & access to parenting leave are central to SDG 10, but remain the weakest link.
The inequality-reducing potential of parenting leave is undermined where access is tied to standard, stable employment. Contribution requirements, employment history conditions, and exclusions of non-standard workers create structural gaps in protection that disproportionately affect low-income parents, migrants, and precarious workers. If parenting leave is to function as a tool for reduced inequalities, it must be designed and evaluated as a social right that reachesdiverse employment trajectories.
4. Workplace practices can enable or block policy objectives.
Employer behaviour and organisational cultures mediate between statutory entitlements and actual use. Ideal worker norms, limited managerial support, and sectoral staffing constraints often discourage fathers from taking leave and can reinforce gendered inequalities. Policy implementation should therefore be complemented by measures that increase organizational accountability, transparency, and support for leave use, including in smaller firms and precarious sectors.
5. Health & well-being effects underline the public-health relevance of inclusive leave schemes.
Evidence suggests that paid and adequately compensated leave supports maternal and child health, while insufficient compensation and restrictive access can reinforce health inequalities. Parenting leave should therefore be considered not only as family and labour market policy but as an inequality-sensitive public health instrument, with benefits and risks distributed along socio-economic lines.
6. A stronger evidence base and monitoring are required to approximate sustainability goals.
The report identifies substantial data gaps, including limited cross-national longitudinal data and insufficient differentiation of leave types in many datasets. To evaluate whether policies contribute to SDGs, Europe needs improved measurement and continuous monitoring of distributional outcomes, especially under the EU Work-Life Balance Directive. Monitoring should capture inequalities by gender, class, employment status, education, migration background, and family form, and track outcomes over time.