Policy as normative influence? On the relationship between parental leave policy and social norms in gender division of childcare across 48 countries

Schindler S. Schuster C. Olsson M.I.T. Froehlich L. Hübner A.-K. Block K. Van Laar C. Schmader T. Meeussen L. van Grootel S. Croft A. Sun M.S. Ainsaar M. Aarntzen L. Adamus M. Anderson J. Atkinson C. Avicenna M. Bąbel P. Barth M. Benson-Greenwald T. Maloku E. Berent J. Bergsieker H.B. Biernat M. Birneanu A. Bodinaku B. Bosak J. Bosson J. Branković M. Burkauskas J. Čavojová V. Cheryan S. Choi E. Choi I. Contreras-Ibáñez C.C. Coogan A. Danyliuk I. Dar-Nimrod I. Dasgupta N. de Lemus S. Devos T. Diab M. Diekman A.B. Efremova M. Eisner L. Eller A. Erentaite R. Fedáková D. Franc R. Gartzia L. Gavreliuc A. Gavreliuc D. Gecaite-Stonciene J. Germano A.L. Giovannelli I. Gismondi Diaz R. Gitikhmayeva L. Gizaw A.M. Gjoneska B. González O.M. González R. Grijalva I.D. Güngör D. Gustafsson Sendén M. Hall W. Harb C. Hassan B. Hässler T. Hawi D.R. Henningsen L. Hoppe A. Ishii K. Jakšić I. Jasini A. Jurkevičienė J. Kelmendi K. Kirby T.A. Kitakaji Y. Kosakowska-Berezecka N. Kozytska I. Kulich C. Kundtová-Klocová E. Kunuroglu F. Aidy C.L. Lee A. Lindqvist A. López-López W. Luzvinda L. Maricchiolo F. Martinot D. McNamara R.A. Meister A. Melka T.L. Mickuviene N. Miranda-Orrego M.I. Mkamwa T. Morandini J. Morton T. Mrisho D. Nikitin J. Otten S. Pacilli M.G. Page-Gould E. Perandrés-Gómez A. Pizarro J. Pop-Jordanova N. Pyrkosz-Pacyna J. Quta S. Ramis T. Rani N. Redersdorff S. Régner I. Renström E.A. Rivera-Rodriguez A. Esmeralda R.-S.T. Ryabichenko T. Saab R. Sakata K. Samekin A. Sánchez-Pacheco T. Scheifele C. Schulmeyer M.K. Sczesny S. Sirlopú D. Smith-Castro V. Soo K. Spaccatini F. Steele J.R. Steffens M.C. Sucic I. Vandello J. Velásquez-Díaz L.M. Vink M. Vives E. Warkineh T.Z. Žeželj I. Zhang X. Zhao X. Koc Y. Kocak Ö.E. Martiny S.E.
April 2025 John Wiley and Sons Ltd

British Journal of Social Psychology
2025 #64 Issue 2

In the present work, we addressed the relationship between parental leave policies and social norms. Using a pre-registered, cross-national approach, we examined the relationship between parental leave policies and the perception of social norms for the gender division of childcare. In this study, 19,259 students (11,924 women) from 48 countries indicated the degree to which they believe childcare is (descriptive norm) and should be (prescriptive norm) equally divided among mothers and fathers. Policies were primarily operationalized as the existence of parental leave options in the respective country. The descriptive and prescriptive norms of equal division of childcare were stronger when parental leave was available in a country – also when controlling for potential confounding variables. Moreover, analyses of time since policy change suggested that policy change may initially affect prescriptive norms and then descriptive norms at a later point. However, due to the cross-sectional nature of the data, drawing causal inferences is difficult.

childcare , gender inequality , parental leave , policy , social norms

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Federal University of Applied Adminstrative Sciences, Berlin, Germany
Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer, Norway
FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
University of Leuven, Belgium
The University of British Columbia, Canada
Thomas More College of Applied Psychology, Antwerp, Belgium
University of Arizona, United States
University of Toronto, Canada
University of Tartu, Estonia
Utrecht University, Netherlands
Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
La Trobe University, Australia
State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatuillah Jakarta, Indonesia
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Indiana University, Bloomington, United States
Rochester Institute of Technology in Kosovo (RIT), Kosovo
University of Geneva, Switzerland
University of Waterloo, Canada
University of Kansas, United States
West University of Timisoara, Romania
University of Tirana, Albania
Dublin City University, Ireland
University of South Florida, United States
Singidunum University, Serbia
Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Palanga, Lithuania
University of Washington, United States
Korea University, South Korea
Seoul National University, South Korea
UAM – Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico
Maynooth University (National University of Ireland), Ireland
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
The University of Sydney, Australia
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States
Universidad de Granada, Spain
San Diego State University, United States
Stellenbosch University, South Africa, Stellenbosch, Palestine
National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University), Moscow, Russian Federation
University of Zurich, Switzerland
UNAM – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, Croatia
Deusto Business School, Bilbao, Spain
Yale University, United States
University ‘G. DAnnunzio’ of Chieti-Pescara, Italy
Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan
Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia
Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, North Macedonia
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Ecuador
Stockholm University, Sweden
Brock University, Canada
American University of Beirut, Lebanon
International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan
Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar
University of Exeter, United Kingdom
University of Leipzig, Germany
Nagoya University, Japan
University of Belgrade, Serbia
University of Prishtina, Kosovo
Purdue University, West Lafayette, United States
Hiroshima University, Japan
University of Gdańsk, Poland
Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University, Turkey
York University, Canada
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Lund University, Sweden
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Roma Tre University, Italy
Université Clermont Auvergne (LAPSCO), France
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
IMD Business School, Switzerland
Saint Augustine University of Tanzania, Tanzania
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
University of Vienna, Austria
University of Groningen, Netherlands
Università di Perugia, Italy
AGH University of Krakow, Poland
Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine
Sunway University, Malaysia
Independent Researcher, India
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, LPC, France
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
University of Sussex, United Kingdom
M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Osnabrück University, Germany
Research Foundation of Flanders, Belgium
RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany
University of Bern, Switzerland
Universidad San Sebastián, Concepción, Chile
University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Shenzhen University, China
Ohio University, United States
Instanbul Medipol University, Turkey
UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway

Federal University of Applied Adminstrative Sciences
Leuphana University
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
FernUniversität in Hagen
University of Amsterdam
University of Leuven
The University of British Columbia
Thomas More College of Applied Psychology
University of Arizona
University of Toronto
University of Tartu
Utrecht University
Slovak Academy of Sciences
Australian Catholic University
La Trobe University
State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatuillah Jakarta
Jagiellonian University
Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences
Indiana University
Rochester Institute of Technology in Kosovo (RIT)
University of Geneva
University of Waterloo
University of Kansas
West University of Timisoara
University of Tirana
Dublin City University
University of South Florida
Singidunum University
Lithuanian University of Health Sciences
University of Washington
Korea University
Seoul National University
UAM – Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
Maynooth University (National University of Ireland)
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
The University of Sydney
University of Massachusetts
Universidad de Granada
San Diego State University
Stellenbosch University
National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University)
University of Zurich
UNAM – Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Kaunas University of Technology
Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
Deusto Business School
Yale University
University ‘G. DAnnunzio’ of Chieti-Pescara
Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra
L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
Bahir Dar University
Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador
Stockholm University
Brock University
American University of Beirut
International Islamic University Islamabad
Doha Institute for Graduate Studies
University of Exeter
University of Leipzig
Nagoya University
University of Belgrade
University of Prishtina
Purdue University
Hiroshima University
University of Gdańsk
Masaryk University
İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University
York University
Nanyang Technological University
Lund University
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Roma Tre University
Université Clermont Auvergne (LAPSCO)
Victoria University of Wellington
IMD Business School
Saint Augustine University of Tanzania
University of Copenhagen
University of Vienna
University of Groningen
Università di Perugia
AGH University of Krakow
Islamic University of Gaza
Sunway University
Independent Researcher
Aix Marseille Univ
University of Gothenburg
University of Sussex
M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University
Osnabrück University
Research Foundation of Flanders
RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau
University of Bern
Universidad San Sebastián
University of Costa Rica
Shenzhen University
Ohio University
Instanbul Medipol University
UiT The Arctic University of Norway

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