Paternity Leave Reforms in Spain and Their Influence on Fathers’ Take-Up

• Authors: Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, Claudia Hupkau, Lídia Farré and Libertad González.
• BSE Working Paper: 1487 | April 25

Over the past decade, Spain has implemented a series of reforms that have extended paternity leave to 16 weeks, matching its length to that of maternity leave, and ranking it as the first country in terms of the generosity of leave exclusively reserved for fathers. Drawing on administrative data covering all permits since 2016, this article examines how usage patterns have evolved. Fathers now routinely take nearly all the weeks available, and since 2018—when the option to split paternity leave was introduced—the share choosing to split has steadily risen, surpassing 50% by 2023. Furthermore, the number of weeks taken non-concurrently with mothers has risen significantly. Before 2019, fathers took no leave separately from mothers. By 2023, they took on average four weeks after the mother had already returned to work. As a result, infants under one year old now spend more time being cared for by their fathers. Spain’s success compared to other advanced economies highlights the policy relevance of our findings.