The European Parenting Leave Policies (EPLP) dataset: Leave duration entitlements for 21 countries from 1970 to 2024

Sonja Spitzer, Adèle Lemoine, Zhanxiong Song, Claudia Reiter, Angela Greulich, Agneta Herlitz, Alžběta Bártová, Elisa Brini, Zuzana Dančíková, Dovilė Galdauskaitė, Libertad González, Evi Hatzivarnava-Kazassi, Helena Honkaniemi, Sol Pía Juárez, Rannveig Kaldager Hart, Ida Lykke Kristiansen, Anna Kurowska, Katre Pall, Barbara Pertold-Gebicka, Tatjana Rakar, Tapio Räsänen, Konstantina Rentzou, Pedro Romero Balsas, Eva-Maria Schmidt, Laurène Thil, Dora Tuda, Lili Vargha, Daniele Vignoli, Sander Wagner and Katharina Wrohlich
Additional contact information
Sonja Spitzer: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Adèle Lemoine: Vienna Institute of Demography (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Zhanxiong Song: Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Claudia Reiter: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Angela Greulich: Sciences Po
Agneta Herlitz: Karolinska Institutet
Alžběta Bártová: Universiteit Leiden
Elisa Brini: Università degli Studi di Firenze
Zuzana Dančíková: London School of Economics and Political Science
Dovilė Galdauskaitė: Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas (Vytautas Magnus University)
Libertad González: Barcelona School of Economics (BSE)
Evi Hatzivarnava-Kazassi: Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences
Helena Honkaniemi: Stockholms Universitet
Sol Pía Juárez: Stockholms Universitet
Rannveig Kaldager Hart: Universitetet i Oslo
Ida Lykke Kristiansen: Københavns Universitet
Anna Kurowska: Uniwersytet Warszawski
Katre Pall: PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies
Barbara Pertold-Gebicka: Charles University
Tatjana Rakar: Univerza v Ljubljani
Tapio Räsänen: Kela
Konstantina Rentzou: University of Ioannina
Pedro Romero Balsas: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Eva-Maria Schmidt: Universität Wien
Laurène Thil: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Dora Tuda: Economic and Social Research Institute
Lili Vargha: Universität Wien
Daniele Vignoli: Università degli Studi di Firenze
Sander Wagner: University of Oxford
Katharina Wrohlich: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)

Demographic Research, 2026, vol. 54, issue 31, 987-1008

Abstract: Background: Parenting leave policies shape how caregiving and paid work can be reconciled around the time of childbirth. They have important implications for fertility, employment, and gender equality. Still, there are limited quantitative cross-country data capturing long-term policy changes that impact how long parents can temporarily be away from work to care for their children, and how leave can be shared between them. Objective: The European Parenting Leave Policies (EPLP) Dataset provides harmonised regulations on maternity, co-parent, paid parental, and job-protected leave across 21 European countries from 1970 to 2024. It focuses on policies that shape how long birth mothers and their co-parents can take leave. Methods: Statutory leave entitlements were compiled from national legal sources, official government publications, and secondary literature. We followed a consistent set of data collection rules to enable comparison across countries and over time. Because the dataset focuses on time away from the job, it considers only rights for employed parents. It includes 33 variables and also documents country-specific reform timelines. Contribution: The EPLP Dataset fills a gap in existing data sources by providing quantitative data across 55 years on policies that shape how long parents stay at home around birth and how leave is shared between them. In addition to leave duration and benefits, it covers recent policy instruments such as incentives for parents to share leave, and timing and flexibility of leave use. The dataset enables cross-national comparisons and the analysis of changes over time, and can be used to study the effects of policy reforms.

Keywords: family policy; gender equality; maternity leave; job-protected leave; paid parental leave; parental leave benefit; paternity leave (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:54:y:2026:i:31

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.31

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