Household bargaining over parental leave

My proposed research will shed light into what parental leave reforms governments and employers should implement to promote gender equality in the division of work and childcare responsibilities. Evidence on the crucial role of parenthood on the gender pay gap suggests effective intervention could substantially narrow the gap in European countries. Reducing labour market inequality means enabling individuals' allocation of time between work and childcare to be driven by underlying preferences and abilities rather than gender norms. Decreasing the labour gender gap could therefore increase employee satisfaction and productivity, drive macroeconomic growth, improve parents' and children's wellbeing, increase satisfaction with partners, and reduce violence within households.
I plan to cooperate with organisations such as the IFS and BEIS to disseminate my findings. Moreover, I am discussing a collaboration with the HR department of a large multinational employer, which would see my research informing reforms to that firm's parental leave scheme.