Already known for being one of the most generous countries in terms of parental leave, Estonia has decided to go even further in making the provision more flexible and attractive for fathers to take-up. This move is more about keeping women in work because of current labor supply-side shortages than it is about promoting gender equality. In 2016 only 9.3% of parents taking-up parental leave were actually fathers.
Parental leave that is too rigid and in need of adaptation. Estonia’s labor market has a high female employment rate. In 2016, 72.6% of women between 20 and 64 were in work as compared with 65.3% in the EU. However this all changes once the first child is born because even if the system provides generous parental leave terms, it actually turns out to be very rigid and drives young parents, for the most part mothers, away from the labor market for between 1.5 and 5 years.
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