Justice principles in the allocation of parental leave within couples
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20377/jfr-1366Keywords:
gender inequality, gender roles, family and work, parenthood, survey experiment, family policyAbstract
Objective: The study investigates which distributive justice principles apply when allocating parental leave between mothers and fathers.
Background: Despite policies promoting gender equality, parental leave uptake and duration in Germany remain unequally distributed and highly gendered. Existing research has primarily focused on the determinants of parental leave uptake, while less attention has been paid to perceptions of what constitutes a just allocation of parental leave between parents.
Method: Using a multifactorial survey experiment, the study manipulated gender, income, job position, and job satisfaction in randomized vignettes of heterosexual dual-earner couples (N = 3,012 vignette evaluations). Respondents were asked to allocate 12 months of parental leave fairly between the parents.
Results: Gender had only a modest effect on parental leave allocations, with respondents allocating 5.4 out of 12 months to fathers for the distribution to be perceived as just. Instead, respondents allocated substantially fewer parental leave months (4.4 out of 12 months) to fathers with stronger work attachments and income advantages (i.e., highly satisfied with their jobs, managers, and higher earners). However, these effects were not gender-specific and similarly applied to “female breadwinner” scenarios.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that justice perceptions regarding parental leave are shaped less strongly by traditional gender roles than by occupational characteristics and income differences. At the same time, justice perceptions and actual parental leave behavior in Germany do not necessarily align due to structural and contextual constraints.
References
Adams, J. S. (1963). Toward an understanding of inequality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 67, 422–436. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040968
Adriaans, J., Sauer, C., & Wrohlich, K. (2020). Gender Pay Gap in den Köpfen: Männer und Frauen bewerten niedrigere Löhne für Frauen als gerecht. DIW Wochenbericht, 10/2020, 147–152.
Auspurg, K., & Düval, S. (2024). Housework as a woman's job? What looks like gender ideologies could also be stereotypes. Sociological Science, 11, 789–814. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15195/v11.a29
Auspurg, K., & Hinz, T. (2015). Factorial survey experiments. Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483398075
Auspurg, K., Hinz, T., & Sauer, C. (2017). Why should women get less? Evidence on the gender pay gap from multifactorial survey experiments. American Sociological Review, 82(1), 179–210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416683393
Begall, K., Grunow, D., & Buchler, S. (2023). Multidimensional gender ideologies across Europe: Evidence from 36 countries. Gender & Society, 37(2), 177–207. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432231155914
Berger, J., Cohen, B. P., & Zelditch, M., Jr. (1972). Status characteristics and social interaction. American Sociological Review, 37(3), 241–255. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2093465
Bernhardt, J., Hipp, L., & Allmendinger, J. (2016). Warum nicht fifty-fifty? Betriebliche Rahmenbedingungen der Aufteilung von Erwerbs- und Fürsorgearbeit in Paarfamilien (WZB Discussion Paper SP I 2016-501). Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB).
Bittman, M., England, P., Sayer, L., Folbre, N., & Matheson, G. (2003). When does gender trump money? Bargaining and time in household work. American Journal of Sociology, 109(1), 186–214. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/378341
BMFSFJ. (2021). Elterngeld, ElterngeldPlus und Elternzeit: Das Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz. BMFSFJ.
Brines, J. (1994). Economic dependency, gender, and the division of labor at home. American Journal of Sociology, 100(3), 652–688. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/230577
Burgoyne, C. B., & Lewis, A. (1994). Distributive justice in marriage: Equality or equity? Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 4(2), 101–114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2450040204
Bygren, M., & Duvander, A.‑Z. (2006). Parents’ workplace situation and fathers’ parental leave use. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68(2), 363–372. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00258.x
Cialdini, R. B., & Trost, M. R. (Eds.). (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance. McGraw-Hill.
Collins, D. (2003). Pretesting survey instruments: An overview of cognitive methods. Quality of Life Research, 12(3), 229–238. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023254226592
Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on household labor: Modeling and measuring the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1208–1233. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.01208.x
Destatis. (2025). Bereinigter Gender Pay Gap nach Gebietsstand und Jahren. Retrieved July 2026, from
Deutsch, M. (1975). Equity, equality, and need: What determines which value will be used as the basis of distributive justice? Journal of Social Issues, 31(3), 137–149. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb01000.x
Düval, S. (2023). Do men and women really have different gender role attitudes? Experimental insights on gender-specific attitudes toward paid and unpaid work in Germany. Social Science Research, 112, 102804. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2022.102804
Eagly, A. H., & Karau, S. J. (2002). Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders. Psychological Review, 109(3), 573–598. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.109.3.573
Esping‐Andersen, G., & Billari, F. C. (2015). Re‐theorizing family demographics. Population and Development Review, 41(1), 1–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00024.x
Fiske, A. P. (1992). The four elementary forms of sociality: Framework for a unified theory of social relations. Psychological Review, 99(4), 689–723. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.99.4.689
Fleischmann, A., & Sieverding, M. (2015). Reactions toward men who have taken parental leave: Does the length of parental leave matter? Sex Roles, 72(9), 462–476. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0469-x
Gager, C. T. (2008). What's fair is fair? Role of justice in family labor allocation decisions. Marriage & Family Review, 44(4), 511–545. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01494920802454116
Gager, C. T., & Hohmann-Marriott, B. (2006). Distributive justice in the household: A comparison of alternative theoretical models. Marriage & Family Review, 40(2-3), 5–42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v40n02_02
Geisler, E., & Kreyenfeld, M. (2019). Policy reform and fathers’ use of parental leave in Germany: The role of education and workplace characteristics. Journal of European Social Policy, 29(2), 273–291. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928718765638
Gerst, B., & Grund, C. (2023). Gender-specific duration of parental leave and current earnings. Work, Employment and Society, 37(1), 215–235. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170221090163
Grunow, D., Begall, K., & Buchler, S. (2018). Gender ideologies in Europe: A multidimensional framework. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(1), 42–60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12453
Gumy, J. M., Plagnol, A. C., & Piasna, A. (2022). Job satisfaction and women’s timing of return to work after childbirth in the UK. Work and Occupations, 49(3), 345–375. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/07308884221087988
Gutiérrez Vargas, L. M., Alegre, J., & Pasamar, S. (2023). Explaining job satisfaction through the use of work–family benefits and their impact on the employee’s family context. International Journal of Manpower, 44(9), 20–36. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-01-2022-0055
Hülle, S., Liebig, S., & May, M. J. (2018). Measuring attitudes toward distributive justice: The basic social justice orientations scale. Social Indicators Research, 136(2), 663–692. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1580-x
Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach. (2015). Weichenstellungen für die Aufgabenteilung in Familie und Beruf: Untersuchungsbericht zu einer repräsentativen Befragung von Elternpaaren im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach.
Jansen, L., Weber, T., Kraaykamp, G., & Verbakel, E. (2016). Perceived fairness of the division of household labor: A comparative study in 29 countries. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 57(1-2), 53–68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020715216642267
Jasso, G. (1978). On the justice of earnings: A new specification of the justice evaluation function. American Journal of Sociology, 83(6), 1398–1419. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/226706
Jasso, G. (2015). Thinking, saying, doing in the world of distributive justice. Social Justice Research, 28(4), 435–478. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-015-0257-3
Jasso, G., & Rossi, P. H. (1977). Distributive justice and earned income. American Sociological Review, 42(4), 639–651. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2094561
Kaufman, G., Petts, R. J., Mize, T. D., & Wield, T. (2024). Gender egalitarianism and attitudes toward parental leave. Social Currents, 11(2), 181–199. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965231175824
Kleinert, C., Leuze, K., Bächmann, A.‑C., Gatermann, D., Hägglund, A. E., & Rompczyk, K. (2023). Occupational sex segregation and its consequences for the (re-)production of gender inequalities in the German labour market. In S. Weinert, G. Bloßfeld, & H.-P. Blossfeld (Eds.), Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment. Education, Competence Development and Career Trajectories: Analysing Data of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) (1st ed. 2023, pp. 295–317). Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27007-9_13
Knight, C. R., & Brinton, M. C. (2017). One egalitarianism or several? Two decades of gender-role attitude change in Europe. American Journal of Sociology, 122(5), 1485–1532. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/689814
Koster, T., Poortman, A.‑R., van der Lippe, T., & Kleingeld, P. (2021). Fairness perceptions of the division of household labor: Housework and childcare. Journal of Family Issues, 43(3), 679–702. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X21993899
Lennon, M. C., & Rosenfield, S. (1994). Relative fairness and the division of housework: The importance of options. American Journal of Sociology, 100(2), 506–531. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/230545
Lerner, M. J. (1987). Integrating societal and psychological rules of entitlement: The basic task of each social actor and fundamental problem for the social sciences. Social Justice Research, 1(1), 107–125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049386
Liebig, S., & Sauer, C. (2016). Sociology of justice. In C. Sabbagh & M. Schmitt (Eds.), Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research (1st ed. 2016, pp. 37–59). Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3216-0_3
Liebig, S., Sauer, C., & Friedhoff, S. (2015). Using factorial surveys to study justice perceptions: Five methodological problems of attitudinal justice research. Social Justice Research, 28(4), 415–434. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-015-0256-4
Major, B. (1993). Gender, entitlement, and the distribution of family labor. Journal of Social Issues, 49(3), 141–159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1993.tb01173.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1993.tb01173.x
Manzi, C., Donato, S., Lagomarsino, F., Pacilli, M. G., Pagliaro, S., & Rania, N. (2024). Moving from “balancing” to “blending”: The role of identity integration for working parents. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 41(1), 200–224. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075231211621
Mätzke, M. (2019). Comparative perspectives on childcare expansion in Germany: Explaining the persistent East–West divide. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 21(1), 47–64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2017.1416817
McClintock, E. A. (2018). Changing jobs and changing chores? The longitudinal association of women’s and men’s occupational gender-atypicality and couples’ housework performance. Sex Roles, 78(3-4), 165–181. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0794-3
Miller, D. (1976). Social justice. Clarendon Press.
Miller, D. (2001). Principles of social justice. Harvard University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674266117
OECD Family Database. (2023). PF2.2.C. Users of paid parental leave.
Olsson, M. I. T., van Grootel, S., Block, K., Schuster, C., Meeussen, L., van Laar, C., Schmader, T., Croft, A., Sun, M. S., Ainsaar, M., Aarntzen, L., Adamus, M., Anderson, J., Atkinson, C., Avicenna, M., Bąbel, P., Barth, M., Benson‐Greenwald, T. M., Maloku, E., … Martiny, S. E. (2023). Gender gap in parental leave intentions: Evidence from 37 countries. Political Psychology, 44(6), 1163–1192. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/pcdbe
Pfahl, S., & Reuyß, S. (2009). Das neue Elterngeld: Erfahrungen und betriebliche Nutzungsbedingungen von Vätern; eine explorative Studie. Gender, Familie und Beruf: Vol. 239. Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12898-1_23
Philipp, M.‑F. (2024). Multiple dimensions of gender ideologies: How they relate to normative judgments of the gender division of parental leave. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 31(2), 404–428. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxae004
Philipp, M.‑F., Büchau, S., Schober, P. S., & Spiess, C. K. (2023). Parental leave policies, usage consequences, and changing normative beliefs: Evidence from a survey experiment. Gender & Society, 37(4), 493–523. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432231176084
Reimer, T. (2020). Why fathers don’t take more parental leave in Germany: Comparing mechanisms in different work organizations. Community, Work & Family, 23(4), 419–438. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2019.1608157
Ridgeway, C. L. (2011). Framed by gender: How gender inequality persists in the modern world. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755776.001.0001
Samtleben, C., Bringmann, J., Bünning, M., & Hipp, L. (2019). What helps and what hinders? Exploring the role of workplace characteristics for parental leave use and its career consequences. Social Sciences, 8(270), 1–30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8100270
Sauer, C. (2020). Gender bias in justice evaluations of earnings: Evidence from three survey experiments. Frontiers in Sociology, 5, 1–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2020.00022
Scarborough, W. J., Sin, R., & Risman, B. (2019). Attitudes and the stalled gender revolution: Egalitarianism, traditionalism, and ambivalence from 1977 through 2016. Gender & Society, 33(2), 173–200. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243218809604
Schneider, D. (2012). Gender deviance and household work: The role of occupation. American Journal of Sociology, 117(4), 1029–1072. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/662649
Schulz, F. (2021). Attitudes towards sharing housework in context: An empirical, factorial survey approach. Journal of Family Research, 33(1), 148–182. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20377/jfr-419
Statistisches Bundesamt. (2024). Statistik zum Elterngeld: Elterngeldempfänger nach Geburtszeiträumen: 2021 (GENESIS-Tabelle 22922-0020).
Steil, J. M. (1994). Equality and entitlement in marriage. In M. J. Lerner & G. Mikula (Eds.), Entitlement and the affectional bond: Justice in close relationships (pp. 229–258). Springer US. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0984-8_10
Thompson, L. (1991). Family work: Women's sense of fairness. Journal of Family Issues, 12(2), 181–196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/019251391012002003
Tisch, D., & Gutfleisch, T. (2023). Unequal but just? Experimental evidence on (gendered) distributive justice principles in parental financial gifts. Socio-Economic Review, 21(3), 1369–1390. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwac041
Törnblom, K. (1992). The social psychology of distributive justice. In K. R. Scherer (Ed.), Justice: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 177–236). Cambridge University Press.
Trappe, H. (2013). Väter mit Elterngeldbezug: Nichts als ökonomisches Kalkül? / Fathers Who Claim Parental Leave Benefits: Only a Matter of Economic Considerations? Zeitschrift Für Soziologie, 42(1), 28–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zfsoz-2013-0104
Younts, C. W., & Mueller, C. W. (2001). Justice processes: Specifying the mediating role of perceptions of distributive justice. American Sociological Review, 66(1), 125–145. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240106600107
