Can Dad Take Over? Effects of Paternity Leave on Relationship Stability and Employment

This paper assesses how extending paternity leave duration in Spain affects labour market
outcomes and relationship stability. By combining administrative data from different
sources, this study provides both descriptive and causal evidence of the effectiveness of the
reform. First, we show that having a child substantially increases the gender employment
gap between fathers and mothers by about 20 percentage points. Yet, between 2016 and
2021, when the duration of paternity leave gradually increased from two to sixteen weeks,
this gap decreased by five percentage points. Second, using a regression discontinuity
design, we analyse the causal effect of the 2018 reform, which introduced an additional week
of leave for fathers that, for the first time, could be taken independently of the mother’s leave.
Although we do not find robust evidence of an effect on the labour market, we show that
the reform increased the stability of the relationship among couples where the mother was
employed before childbirth. From a policy perspective, our findings suggest that extending
paternity leave could have important implications in balancing family responsibilities and
mitigating relationship conflicts.