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Peer Effects:
Research has demonstrated that the duration of parental leave among individuals is influenced by peer behaviour. For example, if a mother notices a coworker opting for a longer parental leave, the probability of her to also increase their maternity leave increases. Welteke and Worhlich (2019) article found that expectant mother's who had peers taking parental leave of longer than ten months were thirty percent more likely to also take more than ten months off compared to expectant parents whose peers took a shorter leave. The influence of peer effects is not solely present to expectant mothers but also fathers. Research in Norway found that expectant fathers were 11 percent more likely to take paternity leave if they witnessed their coworkers use this benefit. In addition to coworkers, expectant fathers were 15 percent more likely to use paternity leave if their brother also utilized the program. Dahl et al., (2014) research additionally found a snowball effect occurring in workplaces where fathers using paternity leave.This means with every additional coworker utilizing benefits of parental leave in the office, the likelihood of others to also use the program benefits.

There are competing arguments to why peers have an influence to the duration of paternal leave of an expecting parent. The first hypothesis stems from mothers learning from their peers about parental leave programs they were previously unaware of. This increase in awareness would lead to more mothers utilizing parental leave for a longer duration. A competing hypothesis states that when coworkers increase their pregnancy leave, there becomes a change in the social norms of that workplace. This phenomenon is known as “herd behaviour” in which an alteration of the traditional habits in the workplace shifted the behaviour of the employees.

Uptake of Parental Leave for Fathers:
Several factors influence the uptake of parental leave by expectant fathers. For example, research has found that fathers who had a secondary education were 28% more likely to take parental leave programs longer than fathers who did not receive secondary education. Furthermore, fathers with a tertiary education were 67% more likely to take parental leave of longer than two months than dads with secondary education.

Additionally, the Income levels of fathers have been noted to influence the uptake of fathers' parental leave. Low-income fathers are less likely to use parental leave, and if they did take off time, it is shorter in duration than fathers with higher income. The discrepancies between the two demographics may be due to fathers with lower incomes being restricted by a more unstable labour market. Fathers in different-sex relationships are even less likely to use parental leave if the mother has a low income. The mother's low income positively correlates with the father taking little to no parental leave. This may be due to the father wanting the mother to take a longer leave themselves or other factors such as the pressures to provide for the household economically.

Research in Sweden found that foreign-born fathers are less likely to partake in parental programs than native-born fathers. The authors have theorized that this result might reflect greater instability of labour markets for first-generation migrants. Additionally, there is a greater likelihood for first-generation immigrants to lack access to information concerning parental leave can contribute to the decrease in uptake from this demographic.

Another aspect that influences the uptake of parental leave is gender dynamics at home and work. In households with a positive association between fatherhood involvement and egalitarian values, the father utilization of parental leave is increased. Workplace environments that promote parental leave for fathers as essential create a greater likelihood of these dads taking parental leave for a longer duration. In contrast, a workplace culture that views paternal leave as an indicator of poor work habits and as "feminine" causes fathers in that environment to be less likely to participate in parental leave.

Eligibility and Uptake of Parental Leave For Mothers:
The eligibility and uptake of parental leave programs are not consistent among all demographics of expecting mothers. Research by Marynissen, Wood and Neels (2021) found that 26.37% of mothers in Belgium are not eligible for parental leave. This is due to the employment-based eligibility criteria present with the country's parental program. By utilizing an employment-based measure, scholars have noted that this creates barriers for currently unemployed mothers to receive an opportunity to take time off looking for a job and care for their child. Another limitation present with employment-based criteria is that in some countries(such as Belgium, Denmark and Czech republic), self-employed individuals are not eligible for parental benefits. There are also a certain number of hours an employee must meet before being eligible for employment-based parental leave. These various factors limit access to parental care for expecting mothers. Expecting parents who are the most affected by this criteria are usually younger, single, less educated and/or are from migrant backgrounds.

In addition to discrepancies present in eligibility, there is variation among expecting mothers who utilize parental leave benefits. For example, research performed by Kil, Wood and Neels(2018) found that native-born Belgian women had higher uptake of parental programs (52%) in comparison to first-generation Belgian citizens from Turkey and Morocco, whose uptake was relatively low (34%). The difference in uptake can be attributed to factors such as the flexibility of the parental leave, culture of the workplace, cultural ideals of paid leave, not knowing about the program itself and other normative factors that influenced the utilization of paid leave.

Research has found that mothers in same-sex relationships are less likely to uptake parental leave than mothers in different-sex relationships. Evertsson and Boye (2018) found that that birth mothers in same-sex relationships, on average, took seven weeks less parental leave than birth mothers in different-sex relationships. The authors reference that gender norms result in the difference between parental uptake duration between birth mothers in same-sex relationships compared to different-sex relationships.

Eligibility of Parental Leave For Same Sex Couples:
Among the thirty-four OECD countries, thirty-three countries provided paid leave for expectant parents. Research found that in nineteen countries, same sex female couples received the same amount of parental leave benefits as different sex couples. While parental leave was given to same-sex female couples in nineteen OECD countries, two nations (Slovakia and Austria) did not allow two mothers to receive paid leave. Instead, the biological mother was granted parental leave benefits. In the remaining fourteen OECD countries, same-sex female couples received shorter duration and fewer benefits from parental leave- due to the restrictive language present in the policies.

For same-sex male couples, four countries provided the same duration of parental leave as different sex couples. Therefore, twenty-nine OECD countries provided a shorter period of parental leave and fewer benefits for same-sex male parents. In addition, some countries, such as Turkey and Israel, provided no parental leave benefits or paid leave for the expectant male parents.

The reason for discrepancies in parental leave between same-sex and different-sex couples is theorized to have several different explanations. One factor affecting parental leave duration for same-sex couples is the restrictive language found in parental leave policies. For example, some parental leave policies only referred to heterosexual couples and did not include same-sex couples in the legislation, leading to increased barriers for same-sex parents to receive paid leave. Another significant barrier comes when same-sex couples try adopting their child. In 15 of the 34 OECD countries examined, same sex couples cannot legally adopt a child together. In these countries, same-sex couples may have one person in the relationship adopt their child as a single parent (Wong et al 2020). Only one parent will be provided parental or adoption-related leave through this adoption strategy. While there is an option of second-parent adoption in some of these 15 countries, the process of a second adoption is costly and time-consuming- creating potential barriers that restrict the same-sex couple from pursuing this procedure.

Canada:
The administration of parental leave in Canada is done on a provincial level. Every Canadian province offers at least seventeen weeks of maternity leave, with the exception of Alberta- where maternity leave is fifteen weeks long. The eligibility for maternity leave is that the individual has to be the child's birth mother. In addition to maternity leave, parents (regardless of biological status with the child) can take 35 additional weeks off. A further five weeks is added to the parental leave if both parents share the leave. This policy has led couples, including the birth parent(i.e. different-sex couples with birth mother, same-sex couples with birth mother), to receive a maximum of 55 weeks off. Couples who do not include the birth parent(i.e. same-sex male couples, parents with surrogates, adoptive parents) receive a maximum of 40 weeks off. The difference between parental leave between couples has caused some scholars to note that there should be reform to parental leave policies, so there is more consistency in paid leave among all parents.

Due to parental leave being under provincial jurisdiction, there is a decentralized nature to the policies concerning leave benefit programs. For example, the province of Quebec has some of the greatest maternity leave benefits in the country. In Quebec, greater number of people are eligible for parental leave benefits and there are more benefits they can receive, compared to other provinces .The variety among provinces concerning parental leave has raised debates on whether there should be a unitary federal program for parental leave policies in Canada.