Parental Leave and Discrimination in the Labor Market

Julia Schmieder, Doris Weichselbaumer, Clara Welteke () and Katharina Wrohlich
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Clara Welteke: Bundesministerium der Finanzen

No 17451, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Promoting fathers to take parental leave is seen as a promising way to advance gender equality. However, there is still a very limited understanding of its impact on fathers' labor market outcomes. We conducted a correspondence study to analyze whether fathers who take parental leave face discrimination during the hiring process in three different occupations. Fathers who took parental leave in a female-dominated or gender-neutral occupation are not less likely to be invited to a job interview compared to fathers who did not take leave. However, in the male-dominated occupation, fathers who have taken long parental leave are penalized. Regardless of leave-taking, fathers are treated less favorably than mothers in the female-dominated and the gender-neutral occupation, while the opposite is true for the male-dominated occupation. This suggests the presence of strong gender norms concerning the perception of ideal employees in different occupations.

Keywords: discrimination; parental leave; gender; hiring; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 J13 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2024-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-inv and nep-lab
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Related works:
Working Paper: Parental Leave and Discrimination in the Labor Market (2024)
Working Paper: Parental Leave and Discrimination in the Labor Market (2024)
Working Paper: Parental Leave and Discrimination in the Labor Market (2024)
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