Fathers’ Leave, Mothers’ Return to Work, and Couples Well-Being in Australia and South Korea

Parental leave policies targeting fathers are often promoted as meant to achieve greater gender equity and family wellbeing by increasing men’s involvement in family roles and women’s involvement in the labor market. It is unclear if fathers’ leave accomplishes these goals. In this study we examine the association of gender-neutral and gendered parental leave in two different policy contexts on fathers’ leave duration and its association with mothers’ return to work and the wellbeing of both mothers and fathers. Panel data from countries that offer gender-neutral (Australia) and gendered (South Korea) leave policies is used to examine the effectiveness of fathers’ leave in these two policy contexts. A four-wave, cross-lagged actor-partner interdependence model is used to test the hypotheses. We find that Australia’s gender-neutral leave policies are more effective in achieving their goals than South Korea’s gendered leave policies. Fathers’ leave is positively associated with mothers’ return to work and life satisfaction in Australia, but in South Korea fathers’ leave is positively associated only with mothers’ life satisfaction. In both countries, mothers’ life satisfaction mediates the relationship between fathers’ leave-taking and fathers’ life satisfaction. We conclude that policy contexts are important when considering the effectiveness of parental leave policies in achieving their goals of increasing gender equity and family wellbeing.