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This report examines the usage of child-related leave benefits in Ireland and their implications for gender equality in the workplace.

Key Findings

The report highlights several critical findings:
  1. Gender Income Gap: Despite rising female participation rates in Ireland, a significant gender income gap persists, primarily driven by lower female participation rates and a higher incidence of part-time employment. This gap often starts after the birth of a child and continues throughout a woman's lifetime.
  2. Child-Related Leave Policies: The recent introduction of Paternity Leave and Parent's Leave in Ireland has been a positive move. However, the take-up rates of these benefits remain low with only around half of fathers availing of Paternity leave and a quarter taking Parent’s Leave compared to two-thirds of mothers. The related welfare benefits paid are flat-rate so income-related concerns are a significant barriers to higher take-up rates along with workplace norms.
  3. Administrative Data Analysis: Using a 10% sample of all births between 2019 and 2022, the report analyses the characteristics linked with the take-up of Paternity and Parent’s Benefit, as well as the duration of paid and unpaid Maternity Leave. The findings reveal that higher paid fathers, who are more likely to receive employer top-ups, were more likely to avail of Paternity Leave. Take-up was also higher for those working in larger companies where a replacement might be more readily available.
  4. Norms and Workplace Attitudes: The report also explores societal norms and workplace attitudes towards child-related leave. A survey experiment found high levels of support for ensuring that fathers have 100% of their earnings covered while on leave and for ring-fencing part of child-related leave for fathers only.
This  is the third report in 2022-2024 IHREC/ESRI Research programme, and marks the thirteenth published report since 2017 under the IHREC/ESRI Irish Human Rights and Equality Research Programme Series. These research reports examine equality and discrimination in Ireland across a wide range of themes and topics including inequality in the labour market, disability, caring and unpaid work, inequality in housing and attitudinal research towards diversity and migration in Ireland. These detailed studies continue to provide us with a better understanding of equality and discrimination in Ireland, expanding the boundaries of existing knowledge and guiding us towards new horizons of insight Read press release: New IHREC and ESRI report finds only half of fathers avail of Paternity Leave Download Child Related Leave Usage and Implications for Gender Equality accessible word