Global Study Reveals Major Gender Gaps in Parental Leave Across Nations
A new Deel study reveals that fathers take parental leave 16.4 weeks shorter than mothers globally. Shared leave policies often yield wider gender gaps, while individual non-transferable quotas promote greater equality.
A new global study by Deel reveals significant gaps in parental leave duration between mothers and fathers, even in countries with extensive social rights. The research shows that fathers take parental leave that is 16.4 weeks shorter than that of mothers, even after adjusting for differences in age, occupation, salary, tenure, and entitlement scope.
The study, conducted by Deel economist Lauren Thomas, is based on salary, employment, and parental leave data from more than 7,200 parents across 97 countries between 2021 and 2026. It focuses on approximately 5,000 parents in 12 countries, including the USA, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Spain, and the Netherlands. The research examined actual leave utilization, compensation during leave, and post-return employment continuity.
Shared Leave Does Not Guarantee Equality
One of the study's key findings is that expanding leave entitlements does not necessarily ensure an equal division between parents. Countries where parents share a common pool of leave days showed larger gaps between mothers and fathers. In contrast, countries offering individual, non-transferable quotas exhibited smaller disparities. For instance, the UK allows parents to share up to 50 weeks of parental leave but displays the largest gender gap among the 12 examined nations. Spain, which provides individual and equal paid leave that cannot be transferred, shows the narrowest gap, with fathers taking a median of 70 working days compared to 85 days for mothers.
The research indicates that in many nations, fathers tend to utilize only the minimum statutory leave. In the UK and Italy, median paternity leave stood at just 10 working days, while in France it reached 20 days. In the USA, where paid parental leave is not federally mandated, white-collar American fathers took a median leave of 5.6 weeks—outpacing fathers in the UK, France, and Italy. However, American mothers took the shortest leave among the 12 countries at just 12.5 weeks, compared to 44.4 weeks for mothers in Sweden.
Post-Return Retention and Workplace Size
Gaps persist even after returning to work. Across all 12 countries, 30% of mothers were no longer employed at the same company within six months of ending their leave, compared to 23% of fathers. In the UK and Canada, the gender gap in post-return departure rates reached 10 to 12 percentage points. The study also highlighted the impact of company size, noting that mothers at medium and small firms took 79 and 84 fewer working days of leave, respectively, compared to mothers at large corporations, possibly because large enterprises absorb prolonged absences more easily.
Financial disparities during leave also play a crucial role. In some nations, mothers taking extended leave experience a sharp drop in income, whereas fathers on longer leaves often continue receiving pay close to their regular salaries. In the UK, mothers on leave after four months receive less than half of their net pay, whereas in the USA, the Netherlands, and Italy, mothers at this stage receive near-full compensation. "For generations, paternity leave was limited, and despite changes in the modern workplace, significant disparities remain," said Alex Bouaziz, CEO and co-founder of Deel.
