Can Public Policies Break the Gender Mold? Evidence from Paternity Leave Reforms

Sébastien Fontenay and Libertad Gonzalez

No 1422, Working Papers from Barcelona School of Economics

Abstract: We examine how paternity leave policies affect gender role attitudes in the next generation using an Implicit Association Test with 5,000 online respondents across six countries. Leveraging a Regression Discontinuity Design, we find a significant decline in gender-stereotypical attitudes among men born post-paternity leave implementation. This attitudinal shift is reflected in career choices: men whose fathers were affected by the reform are more inclined to pursue counter-stereotypical occupations in healthcare or education. Our findings highlight the potential of paternity leave policies to promote egalitarian gender norms and reduce occupational gender segregation in the next generation.

Keywords: female-dominated occupations; gender norms; paternity leave; regression discontinuity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J08 J13 J16 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-gen, nep-hea and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bge:wpaper:1422

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