At the intersection of social, labour, family and gender policy, parental leave shapes the caring time of working parents. Existing research has investigated the efficiency of different designs of parental leave for the fulfilment of different objectives and the social impacts of leave uptake. However, there is little identification of the formulation and establishment of parental leave objectives. Yet this is fundamental because parental leave policies are highly embedded in the institutional and social settings in which they are adopted and shaped by a notable ideological underpinning. In this thesis, I examine the formulation and establishment of the objectives of parental leave in the similar cases of Portugal and Spain. The two Iberian neighbours share many historical, social and political factors, yet differ in the levels of female employment, which are significantly higher in Portugal. As facilitating the employment of women is a crucial objective of parental leave, this difference is expected to be crucial. In order to assess policy aims and their roots, I analyse the evolution of parental leave in the two countries from their democratic inception in the late 1970s until 2023 using expert and elite interviews, laws, European Union directives and party manifestos. To explain the gestation of policy, I apply an analytical model of policy change that distinguishes between factors that are either exogenous or endogenous to institutions, unfolding either abruptly or incrementally. This model also accounts for the impact of the EU on shaping domestic policies. The findings indicate that although the legacy of their respective dictatorships and the differences between left- and right-wing cabinets shape policy objectives in the two countries, these factors impact policy aims differently due to the larger presence of women in the Portuguese labour market. Whereas Spanish policy is entirely devoted to its labour market effects and the removal of female discrimination in employment, the aims of parental leave in Portugal extend to gender equality in the family through the involvement of fathers in childcare.
Gerard de Castro Coll (Thu,) studied this question.