Effects of the birth of the first child in households with and without paternity leave in Belgium
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of paternity leave on men's and women's time use. The paternity leave being a short leave of 10 days, this study examined the effect of having paternity leave compared to no paternity leave at all. The results showed that men who took paternity leave spent more time for childcare. There was a weak negative effect on men's work and men also have more time for entertainment if they benefited from paternity leave. We also find that women sleep more if they partner benefited from the policy. Looking at fertility, we found that families where the dad had access to paternity leave took more time to get another child.