Alejandra Olcese
Updated Tuesday, March 12, 2024-01:38
Conciliation The expansion of paternity leave does not reduce care leave, which increased by 15.5%
Since 2021,
fathers and mothers
in Spain equally enjoy
16 weeks of birth leave,
which makes our country the most generous of all the
OECD
countries , and they also have the possibility of
dividing
that period - a once the mandatory first 6 weeks have been exceeded - and to enjoy the remaining time successively and not simultaneously, which could allow the babies to be with one of their parents for at least
26 weeks
(more or less
half a year
).
Although this is theory, practice shows that very few fathers are left alone with the baby when the mother returns to work.
According to the report
What do we know about the use of paternity leave in Spain?
published this Tuesday by EsadeEcPol, only
50% of fathers
divide
their leave so as not to take the 16 consecutive weeks coinciding with the mother, but many of those who return to work and are on sick leave again later, do so when the mother He has not yet returned to his position.
In fact, of the 10 weeks of leave that the father can have whenever he wants, there are 6 that on average are enjoyed simultaneously with the mother.
"Still
75%
(on average, 12 out of 16 weeks)
of paternity leave
is taken
while the mother is also at home.
Although there is evidence that the presence of the father at home in the first months after childbirth can have positive effects for mother's health, this trend can also limit the positive effect of the policy in
increasing the father's involvement
in the
care
of minors," warn the authors of this
think tank.
Although they are few for now, experts believe that "as paternity leave becomes more popular and families understand how it works, more households are taking advantage of the possibility of dividing paternity leave in order to lengthen the total number of weeks they one of the parents may be at home with the minor."
Parents are also given the possibility of enjoying the last 10 weeks of leave partially, that is,
combining them with employment
(working half the day, for example, and enjoying the other half of the leave). , but it is an option that, for now, only
4.5% have taken advantage of.
Spain is the
OECD
country in which there are
the most weeks of leave
guaranteed exclusively for parents, in fact the average of the countries that make up it is just over 10 weeks.
"The 16 weeks currently available to fathers in Spain place the country in
first place in terms of the generosity
of leave exclusively reserved for fathers, and in ninth place if we take into account the total number of weeks of paid leave for men. can be in charge of their children," they point out.
This generosity, together with the fact that they are exclusive to them and that they do not penalize their salary, has led to "
acceptance
by the vast majority of society", which is why the authors consider their expansion "a success."
They also recognize that in the face of "the limited offer of educational services for the 0 to 3-year-old age group," parents cling to any improvement in time to be able to care for their children.
"In 2020, in Spain, public spending on family and child benefits at that stage was only 1.6% of GDP, while the EU-27 average was 2.5%," they give as an example.
Regarding the impact of equalizing leave on
equality
, an
ISEAK
study published this week shows that mothers who have had children after the extension are much less likely to have reduced their working hours (for child care). than mothers whose children were born before the equalization of permits.
Territorial and sector differences
Although these are the average data for the group of those who have had children in this period, there are many differences - both in the duration of the leave enjoyed and in the decision to divide them - depending on the occupation sectors, the qualifications of the employees and the autonomous communities of residence.
In general terms, fathers enjoy, on average,
almost all the available weeks
, because if they do not do so they are not transferable to the mother, they do not represent a loss of income (they are equivalent to 100% of the salary) and it is mandatory in the first weeks. 6 weeks;
Hence, the regional differences are very slight: from 15.04 weeks on average in Extremadura - the region where they last the shortest - to 15.66 in La Rioja.
By
sectors
, those who work in the extractive industries, agriculture and livestock, or the real estate sector are those who have the shortest sick leave;
while workers in extraterritorial activities, Public Administration and Health are the ones closest to the full period.
The differences are more pronounced in the proportion of
parents who decide to split
the leave to extend the time in which the baby is accompanied by their parents: only
35% do so in the Canary Islands
, 42% in Andalusia and 45%. in Extremadura, compared to
71% in Navarra
, 67% in La Rioja and 66% in Aragón.
These territorial differences are greatly influenced by the majority
economic sector
in each region, since it is the type of work (and the qualification necessary to perform it) that determines the gap.
In professions that require
more training,
it is common for parents
to split
the leave (78% of employees in the energy sector do so, 74% of those in information and communications, and 70% of professionals and scientists or finance staff do so. and insurance), while in those with lower added value - and, usually, more precarious - it is much less common: only
31% do it in the hospitality industry
, 36% in agriculture and livestock, and 44% in the administrative activities.
"This territorial and sectoral variation suggests that certain aspects of the use of permits continue to be determined either by
characteristics
of the
parents
(for example, educational level or income) or by characteristics of the
jobs
they occupy and where acceptance or acceptance may vary. ease of dividing the permit into several periods," they point out.