Marc Grau, lecturer at the Faculty of Education, researcher and coordinator of the Childcare and Family Policies Chair (Childcare and Family Policies Chair) has collaborated with the Joaquim Molins Figueras Foundation on the article “Why Is Part-time Unpaid Parental Leave (Still) Gendered? Narratives and Strategies of Couples in Spain”, published recently in the Journal of Family Issues.

 

The analysis and subsequent conclusions were taken from a study based on 52 interviews conducted with highly educated men and women, aged between 24 and 35 years old, from Madrid and Barcelona.

 

In his article, Grau identifies three strategies for taking part-time unpaid parental leave from six different narratives. On one hand, the results suggest that men seem to overestimate the egalitarianism within their relationships, in comparison to women’s narratives. 

 

Whilst on the other, his analysis indicates that economic uncertainty and labour-market barriers perpetuate a gendered use of unpaid parental leave in women, and even among couples who show gender-egalitarian attitudes.