The European Parenting Leave Policies (EPLP) Dataset
The European Parenting Leave Policies (EPLP) Dataset covers maternity, co-parent, paid parental, and job-protected leave regulations across 21 European countries for 55 years, spanning the period from 1970 to 2024. The dataset primarily focuses on policies that shape the length o
The European Parenting Leave Policies (EPLP) Dataset covers maternity, co-parent, paid parental, and job-protected leave regulations across 21 European countries for 55 years, spanning the period from 1970 to 2024. The dataset primarily focuses on policies that shape the length of leave for mothers and their co-parents, and how leave can be shared between them. It provides harmonised data that enables comparisons of policies both across countries and over time, including 33 variables and country-specific reform timelines.
This upload includes both the full documentation and the accompanying workbook. The documentation serves as a guide to understanding and working with the EPLP dataset by explaining its scope, data collection guidelines, definitions, and assumptions. It also includes the dataset’s codebook, an overview of country-specific reforms that affected statutory leave duration, and the main reference sources, which consist of legal documents, official government websites, and secondary literature.
The workbook contains the dataset itself, additional notes to support accurate interpretation, and the complete list of reference sources. Together, the documentation and workbook provide a comprehensive toolkit for researchers, policymakers, and others interested in exploring parenting leave duration policies in Europe using quantitative approaches.
The EPLP Dataset has been developed with great care. However, as with any large-scale data collection effort, some missing information or inadvertent errors may still be present. Feedback, corrections, or suggestions for improvement are welcome and will help enhance the quality and reliability of potential future updates.
Website and contact: https://eplp-dataset.org/
Peer-reviewed data description: 10.4054/DemRes.2026.54.31
List of countries: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
List of variables
|
Category (and prefix) |
Variable name |
Label |
|
Maternity leave (mat) |
mat_m_ld_bb |
Mandatory maternity leave duration before birth |
|
mat_m _ld_ab |
Mandatory maternity leave duration after birth |
|
|
mat_v_ld_bb |
Voluntary maternity leave duration before birth (maximum duration) |