In May 2025, WG5 and the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) organised a two-day international stakeholder workshop in Luxembourg on Methodological Challenges in Paid Parental Leave Research and Policy. The workshop brought together leading experts and representatives from academia, government, international organisations, statistical and survey infrastructures, and civil society to discuss how the evidence base for parental leave research and policy evaluation can be strengthened.
The stakeholder organisations and major data infrastructures represented at the workshop included
- the European Commission (DG Justice and Consumers)
- European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
- Eurostat
- Eurofound
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
- JRC-Seville/EUROMOD
- Applica/MISSOC
- Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
- UK Department for Business & Trade
- Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and the Nordic Social Statistical Committee (NOSOSCO)
- Share the Care Foundation
- European Social Survey (ESS)
- International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)
- Generations and Gender Programme (GGP/INED)
- Growing Up in Digital Europe (GUIDE/Eurocohort)
- International Network on Leave Policies and Research (L&R)
- Learning for Well-being Institute.
LISER hosted he workshop alongside research from universities and research institutes across Europe.
Together, participants examined persistent methodological and data gaps and explored practical ways to improve the monitoring and evaluation of parenting leave policies. Discussions focused on four key areas: developing common leave terminology, advancing administrative data, improving survey data, and developing comparable policy indicators. The workshop also considered how stronger cooperation between policymakers, statistical and data agencies, researchers and civil-society organisations could improve data quality and reduce duplication of efforts. Rapport_COST_2025_final_digital…
The discussions highlighted both the progress already made and the substantial work still required to produce robust, harmonised and internationally comparable data on parenting leave. A key conclusion was the importance of continued knowledge exchange and coordination across policy, data, research and practice communities in order to support evidence-based implementation and evaluation of parental leave policies.
We are delighted to share the Post-Workshop Report, Methodological Challenges in Paid Parental Leave Research and Policy, which brings together the main presentations, discussions, lessons learned and recommendations emerging from this unique stakeholder dialogue.
Engeman, C., Bartova, A., Burman, S., Köppe, S., & Maxhelaku, A. (2025). Methodological Challenges in Paid Parental Leave Research & Policy: Post-workshop Report. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/tqwfb_v2