Parenting Leave Policies and Social Inequalities in Europe: Evidence, Blind Spots and Policy Direction
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Reducing inequalities is a core objective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and a longstanding commitment of European welfare states. Parenting leave policies constitute a central policy instrument for addressing inequalities in gender relations, labour market participation, income security and family formation. However, their effectiveness depends not only on formal entitlements but on access, affordability and actual use across different social groups.This Policy Brief draws on the CA21150 Working Group 4 report Mapping the Unknown, whose primary objective was to identify research and data gaps in the European evidence base on parenting leave and social inequalities. Lammi-Taskula, J. and Reimer, T. (eds) (2026), Mapping the Unknown: Research Gaps in Parenting Leave Inequality Research in Europe, COST Action Parental Leave Policies and Social Sustainability (Sustainability@Leave), DOI: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/8kbsz_v1, available at: https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/8kbsz_v1
