Policy as normative influence? On the relationship between parental leave policy and social norms in gender division of childcare across 48 countries
Publication date
2025-04
Authors
Schindler, Simon
Schuster, Carolin
Olsson, Maria I.T.
Froehlich, Laura
Hübner, Ann Kathrin
Block, Katharina
Van Laar, Colette
Schmader, Toni
Meeussen, Loes
van Grootel, Sanne
Editors
Advisors
Supervisors
Document Type
Article
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Abstract
In the present work, we addressed the relationship between parental leave policies and social norms. Using a pre-registered, cross-national approach, we examined the relationship between parental leave policies and the perception of social norms for the gender division of childcare. In this study, 19,259 students (11,924 women) from 48 countries indicated the degree to which they believe childcare is (descriptive norm) and should be (prescriptive norm) equally divided among mothers and fathers. Policies were primarily operationalized as the existence of parental leave options in the respective country. The descriptive and prescriptive norms of equal division of childcare were stronger when parental leave was available in a country – also when controlling for potential confounding variables. Moreover, analyses of time since policy change suggested that policy change may initially affect prescriptive norms and then descriptive norms at a later point. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of the data, drawing causal inferences is difficult.
Keywords
childcare, gender inequality, parental leave, policy, social norms, Taverne, Social Psychology, SDG 5 - Gender Equality, SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
Citation
Schindler, S, Schuster, C, Olsson, M I T, Froehlich, L, Hübner, A K, Block, K, Van Laar, C, Schmader, T, Meeussen, L, van Grootel, S, Croft, A, Sun, M S, Ainsaar, M, Aarntzen, L, Adamus, M, Anderson, J, Atkinson, C, Avicenna, M, Bąbel, P, Barth, M, Benson-Greenwald, T, Maloku, E, Berent, J, Bergsieker, H B, Biernat, M, Birneanu, A, Bodinaku, B, Bosak, J, Bosson, J, Branković, M, Burkauskas, J, Čavojová, V, Cheryan, S, Choi, E, Choi, I, Contreras-Ibáñez, C C, Coogan, A, Danyliuk, I, Dar-Nimrod, I, Dasgupta, N, de Lemus, S, Devos, T, Diab, M, Diekman, A B, Efremova, M, Eisner, L, Eller, A, Erentaite, R, Fedáková, D, Franc, R, Gartzia, L, Gavreliuc, A, Gavreliuc, D, Gecaite-Stonciene, J, Germano, A L, Giovannelli, I, Gismondi Diaz, R, Gitikhmayeva, L, Gizaw, A M, Gjoneska, B, González, O M, González, R, Grijalva, I D, Güngör, D, Gustafsson Sendén, M, Hall, W, Harb, C, Hassan, B, Hässler, T, Hawi, D R, Henningsen, L, Hoppe, A, Ishii, K, Jakšić, I, Jasini, A, Jurkevičienė, J, Kelmendi, K, Kirby, T A, Kitakaji, Y, Kosakowska-Berezecka, N, Kozytska, I, Kulich, C, Kundtová-Klocová, E, Kunuroglu, F, Aidy, C L, Lee, A, Lindqvist, A, López-López, W, Luzvinda, L, Maricchiolo, F, Martinot, D, McNamara, R A, Meister, A, Melka, T L, Mickuviene, N, Miranda-Orrego, M I, Mkamwa, T, Morandini, J, Morton, T, Mrisho, D, Nikitin, J, Otten, S, Pacilli, M G, Page-Gould, E, Perandrés-Gómez, A, Pizarro, J, Pop-Jordanova, N, Pyrkosz-Pacyna, J, Quta, S, Ramis, T S, Rani, N, Redersdorff, S, Régner, I, Renström, E A, Rivera-Rodriguez, A, Esmeralda, R S T, Ryabichenko, T, Saab, R, Sakata, K, Samekin, A, Sánchez-Pacheco, T, Scheifele, C, Schulmeyer, M K, Sczesny, S, Sirlopú, D, Smith-Castro, V, Soo, K, Spaccatini, F, Steele, J R, Steffens, M C, Sucic, I, Vandello, J, Velásquez-Díaz, L M, Vink, M, Vives, E, Warkineh, T Z, Žeželj, I, Zhang, X, Zhao, X, Koc, Y, Kocak, Ö E & Martiny, S E 2025, 'Policy as normative influence? On the relationship between parental leave policy and social norms in gender division of childcare across 48 countries', British Journal of Social Psychology, vol. 64, no. 2, e12806. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12806