Here we present publications of our COST Members on the topic of Paid Parental Leave and Social Sustainability. Two or more different country authors are represented in each publication.
2027
Fusulier, B., D-G. Tremblay et A. Escobedo
Chapter Four. From Professional Ethos to Social Sustainability: Rethinking Parenting and Care Leaves. In. AS. Duvender, A. Koslowski, A. Doucet (editors) . Rethinking parental leave through the lens of sustainability. London: University College of London (UCL) Press. (forthcoming)
2026
Blum, S., & Dobrotić, I.
‘Family policy change’ and the dependent variable problem: A systematic review of theories, conceptualisations, and measurements. Journal of European Social Policy, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287261449041
Demirdağ, S., Gekić, H., Bidzan-Gekic, A., & Zorcec, T.
A Comparative Study of Female Teachers’ Perceptions of Maternity Leave Rights: Zonguldak, Türkiye and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. International Journal of Educational Research Review, 11(3), 245-257. https://doi.org/10.24331/ijere.1943087
Dobrotić, I., & Uzunalioğlu, M.
One size fits few: The evolution of the European Union’s work–life balance agenda over three decades. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, jxag013. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxag013
Doucet, A., & Moss, P.
Care leaves and care time for all: Towards Caring Democracies, Economies and Worlds. Bristol, Policy Press 978-1447375272
Engeman, C., Petts, R. J., Gatenio Gabel, S., & Kaufman, G.
Family economic security after the COVID-19 outbreak: Unions, work-life balance policies and employment outcomes. Community, Work & Family, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2026.2733735
Koslowski, A., Duvander, A.-Z., & Doucet, A. (Eds.).
Caring for the future: Parental leave and pathways to sustainability. UCL Press. [In press]
Lammi-Taskula, J., Reimer, T., Ainsaar, M., Blum, S., Braziene, R., Fagnani, J., Gurín, M., Mauerer, G., Mosurović, M., Pavlovic, D., & Thil, L.
Mapping the unknown: Research gaps in parenting leave inequality research in Europe. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/8kbsz_v1
Lee, Y., & Uzunalioğlu, M.
(How) does fathers’ uptake of leave equalise the gendered division of childcare and housework? A review and reflection. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 46(3–4), 357–373. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-06-2025-0398
O’Brien, M., Reimer, T., Eydal, G. E., Escobedo, A., Castellanos-Serrano, C., Devlieghere, J., Grau Grau, M., & Hwang, P.
Paid parenting leave from a child perspective: A pillar of sustainable development [White paper]. SocArXiv. https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/typ4g_v3
Plasová, B., Valentová, M., & Alieva, A.
Civil society and work–family reconciliation policies: focus on the role of employers”. In Handbook on Social Policy and Civil Society. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved Oct 7, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035341603.00011
Reichert, M., Emery, T. & Bartova, A.
The Critical Juncture of Childbirth: Periodic Turbulence in the Employment Trajectories of Mothers in Europe. Eur J Population (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-026-09782-w
Reimer, T., Meil, G., & Romero-Balsas, P.
Why does paid parenting leave terminology matter? Implications for policy design, monitoring and comparative research. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/a4nrq_v1
Spitzer, S., Lemoine, A., Song, Z., Reiter, C., Greulich, A., Herlitz, A., Bártová, A., Brini, E., Dančíková, Z., Galdauskaitė, D., González, L., Hatzivarnava-Kazassi, E., Honkaniemi, H., Juárez, S. P., Kaldager Hart, R., Kristiansen, I. L., Kurowska, A., Pall, K., Pertold-Gebicka, B., Rakar, T., Räsänen, T., Rentzou, K., Romero-Balsas, P., Schmidt, E., Thil, L., Tuda, D., Vargha, L., Vignoli, D., Wagner, S., & Wrohlich, K.
The European parenting leave policies (EPLP) dataset: Leave duration entitlements for 21 countries from 1970 to 2024. [Verify journal, volume and DOI.] Demographic Research, 54(31), 987–1008. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.31
Stertz, A. M., & Waismel-Manor, R.
Take it or leave it: how maternal leave duration affects societal perceptions of women in Germany and Israel. Community, Work & Family, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2026.2621075
Uzunalioğlu, M., Valentova, M., O’Brien, M., & Twamley, K.
Competing powers: An examination of the role of intra- and extra-household factors on fathers’ leave take-up. Social Science Research. [Manuscript reportedly under revision; verify publication status before citing as published.]
2025
Arnalds, Á. A., Duvander, A.-Z., & Lammi-Taskula, J.
Paid parental leave and social sustainability in the Nordic countries. Nordic Council of Ministers.
Arnalds, Á. A., Duvander, A.-Z., & Lammi-Taskula, J. (Eds.).
Paid parental leave and social sustainability in the Nordic countries. Nordic Council of Ministers. [Duplicate/variant entry; verify authors versus editors. ISBN 978-92-893-8264-9.]
Blum, Sonja & Dobrotić, Ivana.
Early Childhood Education and Care in Times of COVID-19.
Dobrotić, Ivana & Plasová, Blanka.
Transformation of care regimes in Central Eastern Europe: the case of Croatia and the Czech Republic. 10.4337/9781839103698.00041.
Dobrotić, I., Iveković Martinis, A., & Uzunalioglu, M.
Families with low resources striving for resilience in Croatia. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035346769.00011
Eerola, P., Mustosmäki, A., Pirskanen, H., & O’Brien, M.
Fathers on the ‘night shift’?: Understanding caring fatherhood through parents’ interpretative repertoires of night-time care. In P. Eerola, H. Pirskanen, K. Twamley, & P. Romero-Balsas (Eds.), Caring Fathers in the Global Context (1st, First Edition ed., pp. 135–152). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.22992781.14
Eerola, P., Twamley, K., Pirskanen, H., & Romero-Balsas, P. (Eds.).
Caring Fathers in the Global Context. Bristol, UK: Policy Press. Retrieved Oct 6, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447372448
Engeman, C., Bartova, A., Burman, S., Köppe, S., & Maxhelaku, A.
Methodological challenges in paid parental leave research & policy: Post-workshop report. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/tqwfb_v1
Escobedo, A., & Moss, P.
Parenting leave and gender in Spain: terminology, rationale and design. Community, Work & Family, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2025.2481861
Gurín, M., & Gornick, J.C.
Pushes and pulls of father leave policy reform: Unpacking divergent father leave reforms in the Czech Republic and South Korea. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy. FirstView, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1017/ics.2025.12
Justiniano Medina, A.C., Valentova, M.
Is There an Employment Advantage for Immigrant Women Who Marry Natives in Italy?. Eur J Population 41, 15 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-025-09734-w
Kurowska, A., Barardehi, I. H., Fuller, S., Petts, R. J., Kaufman, G., Doucet, A., Engeman, C., Matysiak, A., Guetto, R., Reimer, T., Kasegn, T. D., Vignoli, D., Duvander, A.-Z., & Gatenio Gabel, S.
Familydemic Cross Country and Gender Dataset on work and family outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific Data, 10, Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01880-8
Maslauskaite, A., & Hašková, H.
Comparing childcare policies in Lithuania and the Czech Republic. In M. A. Adler & K. Lenz (Eds.), The sociology of families: Key debates and contending perspectives (pp. 173–192). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035319251.00022
Meil, G., Romero-Balsas, P., Dörfler, S., Escobedo, A., Ivanova, D., Mauerer, G., Moss, P., Perez-Vaisvidovsky, N., & Reimer, T.
Towards a comprehensive terminology on paid parenting leave. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/wkuam_v2
Morosow, K., & Jalovaara, M.
Single and partnered mothers’ labour market consequences of long family leave. Community, Work & Family, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2025.2535739
Saxler, F. M., Dorrough, A., Froehlich, L., Block, K., Croft, A., Meeussen, L., Olsson, M., Schmader, T., Schuster, C., Van Grootel, S., Van Laar, C., . . . Martiny, S. (2025).
Did descriptive and prescriptive norms about gender equality at home change during the COVID-19 pandemic? A cross-national investigation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 51(9), 1745–1759. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231219719 [Complete author list needed for strict APA 7 compliance.]
Scheifele, C., Van Laar, C., & Steffens, M. C.
Dashed expectations and unmet desires of Belgian and German first-time fathers regarding their engagement in breadwinning and childcare. Sex Roles, 91, Article 64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-025-01601-6
Twamley, K., Haffejee, S., & O’Brien, M.
What happens when fathers are at home?: Learning from families’ accounts of COVID-19 lockdown in the UK and South Africa. In K. Twamley, P. Eerola, H. Pirskanen, & P. Romero-Balsas (Eds.), Caring Fathers in the Global Context (1st, First Edition ed., pp. 153–174). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.22992781.15
Valentova, M., Maas, R. and Koslowski, A.
Parental Leave Challenges From the Perspective of Employers: Understanding Sectors With Low Take-Up by Fathers. Gender Work Organ, 32: 1966-1981. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13259
2024
Bartova, A., Dobrotić, I., & Arnalds, Á.
Parenting leave policy data gaps: Monitoring the implementation and impact of the EU Work-Life Balance Directive. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/yhncb
Debiasi, E., Honkaniemi, H., Aradhya, S., Hjern, A., Duvander, A., & Juárez, S. P.
Unintended perinatal health consequences associated with a Swedish family policy. JAMA Pediatrics, 178(6), 608–615. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.0378
Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Sawicki, A. Celikkol, G., Bosson, J. K. Van Laar, C., Van Rossum, A., Best, D., Jurek, P., Besta, T., Olech, M., & Glick, P.
Does culture moderate gender stereotypes? Individualism predicts communal (but not agentic) prescriptions for men across 62 nations. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 16(4), 359-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506231221913
Scheifele, C., Van Laar, C., & Steffens, M. C.
Predictors of expectant fathers’ parental leave-taking intentions before birth: Masculinity, fatherhood beliefs, and social support. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1247193. https://doi.org/10.3389/FPSYG.2024.1247193
Valentova, M., Amjahad, A., Genevois, A.S.
Parental Leave Take-up and its Intensity. Do Partners’ Workplace Characteristics Matter? Journal of Social Policy, 53(4), 1164-1186. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279422000885
Van Laar, C., Van Rossum, A., Kosakowska-Berezecka, N., Bongiorno, R., & Block, K.
MANdatory – why men need (and are needed for) gender equality progress. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1263313
2023
Amjahad, A., Valentova, M., Maas, R.
How Do Employers Respond to a Policy Reform of Parental Leave? A Focus on Fathers and Companies From Economy Sectors With Traditionally Lower Take-Up Rates. Journal of Family Issues, 44(12), 3089-3116.
Arnalds, Á., & Duvander, A.-Z.
Arranging childcare in two Nordic countries: A comparison of ECEC start in Iceland and Sweden. JFR – Journal of Family Research, 35, 471-488. https://doi.org/10.20377/jfr-896
Dobrotić, Ivana & Blum, Sonja.
‘Sorry, we’re closed’: a fuzzy-set ideal-type analysis of pandemic childcare-policy responses in 28 European countries. European Journal of Politics and Gender. 6. 258-294. 10.1332/251510821X16812994360871.
Duvander, AZ., Koslowski, A.
Access to parenting leaves for recent immigrants: a cross-national view of policy architecture in Europe. Genus 79, 8 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-023-00187-9
Engeman, C., Valentova, M., Mercan, M., Ilieva, K., Makay, Z., Reimer, T., Bartova, A., & Aksoy, T.
Parenting leave policy data gaps: A comparative critical analysis. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/8g25k
Malamitsi-Puchner, A., Laura Addati, Guðný Björk Eydal, Despina D. Briana, Flavia Bustreo, Gian Carlo Di Renzo, O’Brien, M., Mark Hanson, Neena Modi
Paid leave to support parenting-A neglected tool to improve societal well-being and prosperity Acta PaediatricaVolume 112, Issue 10 pp. 2021-2257 https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16929
Mathieu, S., Tremblay, D.-G., Treleaven, C., & Fuller, S.
Determinants of work-family balance satisfaction during the pandemic: Insights from Québec. Canadian Review of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12427
Olsson, M. I. T., van Grootel, S., Block, K., Schuster, C., Meeussen, L., Van Laar, C., Schmader, T., Croft, A., Sun, M. S., Ainsaar, M., Aarntzen, L., Adamus, M., Anderson, J., Atkinson, C., Avicenna, M., Bąbel, P., Barth, M., Benson-Greenwald, T. M., Maloku, E., . . . Martiny, S. E.
Gender gap in parental leave intentions: Evidence from 37 countries. Political Psychology, 44(6), 1163–1192. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12880
Saxonberg, S., Formánková, L., & Hašková, H.
The role of experts in forming family policy under an adversarial subsystem in the Czech Republic. International Journal of Social Welfare, 32(1), 101–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsw.12550
2022
Morosow, K., & Cooke, L. P.
The impact of taking family leaves across Finnish fathers’ wage distribution. Social Forces, 101(1), 202–226. https://academic.oup.com/sf/article/101/1/202/6363056