Employers’ Discrimination against Fathers and Mothers Taking Parental Leave: Evidence from a Choice Experiment

Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska (), Anna Matysiak, Agnieszka Kasperska and Gayle Kaufman
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Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska: Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam), Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw
Anna Matysiak: Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam), Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw
Agnieszka Kasperska: Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam), Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw
Gayle Kaufman: Davidson College

No 2025-27, Working Papers from Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw

Abstract: This study provides causal evidence on the hiring and pay penalties associated with taking parental leave of varying lengths. We investigate how deviations from prevailing social norms, in the form of non-standard leave-taking behavior by mothers and fathers, affect their employment outcomes. We also compare the parental leave penalties with those linked to unemployment to disentangle the determinants of these penalties and to identify the mechanisms through which they operate. To this end, we conducted a discrete choice experiment with 997 managers, who evaluated hypothetical job candidates differing in the length of employment interruptions due to parental leave. Using a conditional logit model, we find that both mothers and fathers face disadvantages in hiring and remuneration when taking longer parental leave. Notably, fathers are penalized for taking any parental leave, though the penalties are more severe for longer leave. These poorer employability prospects stem from managers perceiving such fathers as less available for work. Meanwhile, mothers receive hiring and pay bonuses for taking shorter leaves, stemming from employer perceptions of such mothers as more available, competent, and motivated.

Keywords: Energy parental leave; family policies; employment; wages; gender norms; ideal worker norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J16 J22 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-dem, nep-gen and nep-lab
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:war:wpaper:2025-27

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