European study of attitudes to parental leave
12 April 2005
A new report from the European Commission explores attitudes across the European Union towards the rights of men to take up parental leave.
Four main questions:
- The questionnaire starts off by evaluating the level of men’s knowledge regarding their
right to take parental leave. - It goes on to look at the reasons why men have taken or are considering taking up
parental leave. - Where men have not taken up parental leave or are not considering doing so, the reasons
for this are explored. - Lastly, respondents were asked what, in their view, would be the main reasons that would
encourage men to take parental leave and the main reasons that would discourage them.
Key Findings
- Across the EU, 75% men were aware of the right to take parental leave (72.5% in UK)
- 84% of men had neither taken parental leave nor were thinking of doing so (80% in the UK)
- Among reasons given were; not knowing about parental leave, not being able to afford to take it, thinking it was for women, and having a wife/partner who doesn’t work.
- Factors that would encourage more uptake include; better pay for the leave, being guarenteed job/career security, better information about the leave, better attitudes from employers and colleagues, splitting leave into smaller installments/part time working, among others.
A copy of the report can be downloaded below.
Europeans attitudes to parental leave
Tags: Early years, For employers
