Claudia Hupkau
claudiahupkau.bsky.social
Claudia Hupkau
@claudiahupkau.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Economics, CUNEF Universidad Madrid
Pinned
🚼 What if making paternity leave mandatory could actually move the needle on gender equality?
In a new working paper, we study Spain’s paternity leave reforms from 2017 to 2021 — and the effects are remarkable.
📄 cep.lse.ac.uk/_NEW/PUBLICA...
Paternity leave in Spain
Between 2017 and 2021, Spain progressively extended paternity leave from 2 to 16 weeks, equalizing it with maternity leave and introducing mandatory weeks. A 2018 reform also allowed fathers to split their leave. Using administrative data on all leave permits since 2016, we analyze trends in paternity leave take-up. Following the introduction of mandatory leave, the share of fathers taking leave increased by around 20 percentage points, and most now use nearly the full entitlement. The share opting to split leave has steadily grown, surpassing 50% by 2023. However, this behavior shows marked heterogeneity: while overall uptake is uniform across groups, leave-splitting is far more common among higher-income fathers and more prevalent in certain sectors. Spain's experience illustrates how policy design can significantly increase paternity leave usage, though workplace flexibility and income-related constraints shape how fathers use that time.
cep.lse.ac.uk
Reposted by Claudia Hupkau
Use-it-or-lose-it paternity leave with full pay is changing norms in Spain.

@claudiahupkau.bsky.social @lidiafarre.bsky.social @libertadgonzalez.bsky.social Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela

In CentrePiece magazine

Read:
Supporting new fathers, Spanish style
Use-it-or-lose-it paternity leave combined with full pay is changing norms.
cep.lse.ac.uk
October 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
🚼 What if making paternity leave mandatory could actually move the needle on gender equality?
In a new working paper, we study Spain’s paternity leave reforms from 2017 to 2021 — and the effects are remarkable.
📄 cep.lse.ac.uk/_NEW/PUBLICA...
Paternity leave in Spain
Between 2017 and 2021, Spain progressively extended paternity leave from 2 to 16 weeks, equalizing it with maternity leave and introducing mandatory weeks. A 2018 reform also allowed fathers to split their leave. Using administrative data on all leave permits since 2016, we analyze trends in paternity leave take-up. Following the introduction of mandatory leave, the share of fathers taking leave increased by around 20 percentage points, and most now use nearly the full entitlement. The share opting to split leave has steadily grown, surpassing 50% by 2023. However, this behavior shows marked heterogeneity: while overall uptake is uniform across groups, leave-splitting is far more common among higher-income fathers and more prevalent in certain sectors. Spain's experience illustrates how policy design can significantly increase paternity leave usage, though workplace flexibility and income-related constraints shape how fathers use that time.
cep.lse.ac.uk
July 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Claudia Hupkau
‼️Call for Papers: III Spanish Workshop on Development Economics

🌆 October 21-22nd at @fundacionareces.bsky.social dacionareces.bsky.social in Madrid!

⭐Wonderful keynote speakers: Sylvie Lambert and Raul Sanchez de la Sierra

📝Full papers/extended abstracts by June 15: spande.workshops@gmail.com.
May 19, 2025 at 9:35 AM
It was a pleasure attending this Workshop and a privilege meeting the speakers and discussing family policies with them!
cemfi.es CEMFI @cemfi.es · Apr 1
The videos from the Workshop on ‘Households in the 21st century: Marriage, fertility and challenges for public policies’ are now available
www.cemfi.es/all_news_blo...
April 1, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I recommend you reading the new IEB report on gender equality in the labor market: ieb.ub.edu/en/publicati... Three great authors plus myself discuss the evidence on policies to reduce inequality! Check it out.
IEB Report 3/2024: Policies to Tackle Gender Inequalities in the Labour Market – IEB
ieb.ub.edu
November 27, 2024 at 8:55 AM
I recommend you reading the new IEB report on gender equality in the labor market: ieb.ub.edu/en/publicati... Three great authors plus myself discuss the evidence on policies to reduce inequality! Check it out.
IEB Report 3/2024: Policies to Tackle Gender Inequalities in the Labour Market – IEB
ieb.ub.edu
November 26, 2024 at 11:44 AM
This is my first post here and just wanted to say! Thanks to those who followed me back! I’ll soon start posting more interesting stuff!
November 18, 2024 at 5:35 PM