18(38)
the proportions of fathers using any parental leave days, more than 30
days or more than 60 days.
It is worth noting that the proportion of fathers using parental leave
decreased between just after the introduction of the first reserved month
and just before the introduction of the second month. There are no changes
in regulations that can explain the decrease and we therefore interpret the
decrease as caused by a strong initial response to the reform that wears off
somewhat with time. Similarly, the proportion of fathers using parental
leave between just after the introduction of the second reserved month and
just before the introduction of the equality bonus decreased. In addition,
the proportion of fathers using more than 30 days and more than 60 days
increased in the period after the introduction of the first reserved month
and just before the second reserved month, and the proportion of fathers
using more than 60 parental leave days increased in the period after the
second reserved month and just before the gender equality bonus was
introduced. The trend of change in fathers’ leave use over time thus seem
to be a polarization of fathers whereby the group of non-users increases
between reforms as does the group using long leave.
Table
2
Proportion of fathers and mothers using parental leave during first 20
months
Control group Treatment group
Men
First reserved month
>O days
40.0***
68.6***
>3O days
21.0***
27.8***
>6O days
13.0
13.4
Second reserved month
>O days
65.2***
70.1***
>3O days
34.7***
46.2***
>6O days
21.1***
24.3***
Gender equality bonus
>O days
69.1
68.2
>3O days
49.2
47.5
>6O days
31.4
31.9
Women
First reserved month
>O days
98.0
97.9
>3O days
97.7
97.4
>6O days
97.5
96.7
Second reserved month
>O days
97.3
98.1
>3O days
96.5
97.9
>6O days
95.8
97.4
Gender equality bonus
>O days
97.6
97.8
>3O days
97.3
97.4
>6O days
96.5
96.5
*** Significant difference (1 percent level) between control and treatment groups.
** Significant difference (5 percent level) between control and treatment groups.
