Tracking parenting leave policies in Europe over five decades
The European Parenting Leave Policies (EPLP) Dataset provides harmonised data on maternity, co-parent, paid parental, and job-protected leave regulations across
21 European countries from 1970 to 2024. These policies shape how long birth mothers and co-parents can be away from paid work around childbirth, and how leave can be shared between them.
By covering 33 variables on leave duration, benefits, flexibility, and incentives for sharing leave between couples, the dataset enables quantitative analyses of policy trends, cross-national differences, and the effects of major reforms – for researchers, policymakers, and others interested in family policy.