Gender Equalization of Childcare: Could Non-transferable Parental Leave Months Be a Gamechanger?

Dovile Galdauskaite , Vytautas Magnus University
Aušra Maslauskaite, Vytautas Magnus University

The equalisation of childcare responsibilities between men and women is a family policy priority in the EU, as reflected in many strategic documents. Among the latest is EU Directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers (EU, 2019). At the national level, the directive has been implemented in various ways; in some countries, a new type of leave targeting fathers has been introduced. This paper focuses on Lithuania, where parental leave policies were modified in 2023 and a new type of leave was introduced: non-transferable parental leave months (NTPM). The NTPM leave is designed as a "take it or leave it" policy scheme. This paper aims to identify trends in the uptake of NTPM by fathers in Lithuania, and to reveal socio-economic and family-related factors that contribute to the use of this policy measure. Our analysis is based on a dataset which links national registers and Lithuanian Social Insurance Agency data. The database consists of over 88 thousand cases and covers a period of 24 months. Descriptive analysis reveals that the NTPM it the least popular type of childcare leave. There are significant socio-economic differentials at the individual and couple levels in the use of the NTPM by fathers. Our preliminary results show that the NTPM is used more frequently by couples with lower levels of education and income, suggesting that they adopt an economic utility strategy.

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 Presented in Session 117. Flash Session Families, Policies and Demographic Change