Who Benefits from Parental Leave Policies? A Comparison Between Nordic and Southern European Countries

The aim of the chapter is to explore parental leave policies in two European welfare clusters: the Nordic and the Southern European ones. The investigation aims to describe the two clusters and the degree of heterogeneity/homogeneity within them, to understand what benefits are generated, and who are the implicit or explicit beneficiaries. The analysis reveals significant differences among Nordic countries, often treated as indistinguishable in terms of their social welfare policies, as well as gender differences in the take-up of parental leave despite the relatively generous availability of family policy, the high provision of public day care and parental leave schemes. The study also reveals that even if Southern European countries are characterised by limited support for working families and underdeveloped childcare and long-term care services (with the partial exception of Portugal), parental leave policies have progressed despite social resistance to change and economic crises. However, in both clusters the groups with less access to leave benefits are similar, mostly single parents, migrant parents, and parents with vulnerable employment.