2026/01/20 by Takeshi Hieda · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Work-Family Balance Challenges #Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1177/09589287251410874
openalex publication_date 2026/01/20 · openalex created_date 2026/01/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
This study examines the political determinants of parenting leave policy across 21 OECD countries from 1970 to 2021. While prior research has linked parenting leave expansion to social democratic and Christian democratic governments, this paper argues that party positions in the two-dimensional ideological space—socio-economic left–right and socio-cultural libertarian–authoritarian—better explain policy preferences. Using mixed-effects ordered logit models, the analysis reveals that socio-cultural rather than socio-economic positions drive parenting leave expansion. Governments with libertarian socio-cultural orientations are more likely to extend paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave for both mothers and fathers. These findings remain robust even when controlling for party family, indicating that the influence of Christian democratic and social democratic governments stems from their shifts towards libertarian positions. The study provides new insights into the partisan determinants of parenting leave policy, highlighting the role of socio-cultural competition in shaping welfare state transformations in post-industrial democracies.