Social Norms and Fathers' Use of Parental Leave Entitlements

Significant changes have been made to parental leave allocations in Europe in recent years. Steps towards creating gender-neutral policy
environments have been made in several counties. Yet fathers' take-up of parental leave remains consistently lower than mothers', even in countries
with the most gender-sensitive frameworks including 'daddy quotas' and other paternal incentives. Existing quantitative research has found that factors
influencing fathers' use of leave include "father-friendly" legislation; policy configuration (non-transferability and high replacement pay are key);
workplace culture; as well as individual attitudes, experiences and family attributes. Using an understanding of parenting as gendered and performative
(Butler 1990), my study will add to this literature by examining the extent to which gendered social and cultural norms influence fathers' and couples'
decisions about fathers' use of parental leave entitlements. Examining four different country contexts: Portugal, Norway, Sweden and the UK, the
proposed study will use a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology to investigate the significance of social norms and gendered responsibilities
in decisions regarding fathers' use of leave. My hypothesis is that social norms are a significant influence on decision-making and that a number of
"competing norms", or different dimensions of gender norms that are active in distinct sites, operate to inform decisions about use of leave entitlements.