Alicia De Quinto (Autonomous University of Madrid)
Marie Lalanne
This paper examines the impact of three recent expansions of paternity leave in Spain, culminating in the full equalization of maternity and paternity leave at 16 weeks in 2021. These reforms aimed at promoting a more equal division of childcare responsibilities between mothers and fathers while also potentially reducing gender gaps in employment by making employers equally likely to face leave absences for both male and female employees. Using administrative employment records from the Continuous Work History Sample (in Spanish, MCVL), we employ a difference-in-difference approach to assess their effects on employment probability, working hours, promotions to permanent contracts, and earnings. Our findings suggest that the initial paternity leave expansions in 2019 and 2020 contributed to narrowing gender disparities in employment; however, the final stage of equalization led to declines on both the extensive margin (employment rates) and the intensive margin (number of days and hours worked) for women relative to men. These results suggest that formal equality in entitlements may not be sufficient to eliminate gender differences in career outcomes.