Inequalities in the settings, use and discourses of parental leave policies from a social sustainability perspective

The project develops research on paid parental leave (PPL) arrangements from a social sustainability perspective. We enrich knowledge of social inequalities related to institutional settings, discursive framing, access and use of PPL arrangements for different groups. We cooperate internationally to develop interdisciplinary and internationally meaningful terminology in the field.

The project is part of the COST Action "Parental Leave Policies & Social Sustainability" (CA21150) led by Thordis Reimer. The Action aims to advance and disseminate research and knowledge about the significance of paid parental leave (PPL) for the social sustainability of societies. The aim is to set the scene for future PPL research from the new perspective of social sustainability while making the field more coherent across disciplines and beyond academia. The main challenges are to build the network, identify and fill gaps in PPL research, develop a future-oriented and cross-disciplinary PPL terminology, and facilitate future research by closing the PPL data gap. Five Working Groups (WGs) were established to focus on: (1) The development of a theoretical framework (2) the identification of social inequalities through PPL policies (3) the relevance of PPL for child development (4) providing a future-oriented PPL terminology and (5) the expansion of PPL data.