By Nathalie Vallerand and Julie Leduc

Although parents are sharing parental leave more often than in the past, mothers continue to use the bulk of these benefits. Why does this happen, and what are the benefits of sharing this leave more evenly?

The purpose of parental leave is to allow new parents to enjoy time with their baby. “I loved getting the chance to be a fulltime mom for a year,” says Tamaro, mother of 4-year-old Jonathan and 2-year-old Olivier. “Babies get big so quickly; I would have regretted missing out on those first months.”

“My wife and I took part of our leave at the same time,” says Lee-Christophe, father of 23-month-old Oscar and 4-month-old Félix. “It allowed us both to adjust to our new family life. My older coworkers wished they’d had the same opportunity.” He also took a few weeks of shareable parental leave on top of his paternity leave. “I chose to have kids, and for me, that means helping to care of them.”

Today, like Lee-Christophe, most fathers take their full paternity leave, and more than 40% supplement it with weeks of parental leave.

Why do moms take more leave?

Although the number of fathers taking parental leave is on the rise, mothers continue to take the majority of leave. “It was more complicated for my husband to take time off work,” says Tamaro, who took the full parental leave allocation. “What’s more, I was committed to breastfeeding for a long time.” In fact, studies show that breastfeeding is one of the main reasons why women take the bulk of parental leave.

Money is also a consideration. Even today, men tend to earn more than women—for example, the median annual after-tax income for women in 2021 was $33,500, compared to $39,900 for men. This discrepancy means that many couples find it easier on the family budget when the mother takes most of the parental leave.

Another reason is the widespread belief that raising children is primarily a woman’s responsibility. Even though men are becoming increasingly involved, many studies and experts report that women are still viewed as the “main parent.” As a result, parental leave tends to be seen as an extension of maternity leave.

Not many couples talk in-depth about how they plan to split parental leave. The woman generally decides how much time she wants to take, and her partner respects her choice. “Men who take a few weeks of parental leave feel as though their wives are doing them a favour,” says Valérie Harvey, a sociologist who’s writing her doctoral thesis on parental leave. “Even though both parents are entitled to parental leave, fathers say that their spouses ‘gave’ them part of the time.”

“Childcare is such a huge part of a woman’s identity that I questioned whether I was a bad mother because my partner took the entire parental leave for both of our kids,” Harvey explains. “At the same time, I didn’t want to stop working for a full year.”

It’s rare for fathers to take all of the available parental leave. In 2021, 8 percent of fathers took the full parental leave allocation, compared to 19 percent of mothers. What’s more, when they did, it was often because the mother was studying, unemployed, or on sick leave, and therefore ineligible for leave under the QPIP.

Share the leave, share the work

Divvying up parental leave more evenly is better for both parents. When mothers take long parental leaves, there is a higher risk that the family responsibilities will not be equally balanced. During this period, moms often shoulder the bulk of household chores, and when they go back to work, they continue to be responsible for most of the housework and childcare.

“Fathers who are involved in their children’s lives early on tend to be more comfortable with childcare tasks and to continue taking on those responsibilities down the road,” confirms Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, a professor at Université TÉLUQ who is studying parental leave. The bottom line is, sharing parental leave more evenly makes it easier for women to balance family and work.

To promote gender equality among couples, the Conseil du statut de la femme issued a recommendation in 2015 that the government extend paternity leave by 3 weeks, on the condition that only the father take care of the child during this time. By spending a few weeks caring for their children, fathers become more aware of the challenges involved and develop a sense of responsibility for their children’s needs.

It’s also an opportunity for fathers to bond with their newborns. “Babies are demanding,” says Patrick, father to 4-year-old Sean-Anthony. Patrick chose to take the full parental leave because his wife was in school. “It’s a lot of work, but I loved it. My son and I are very close; when he needs comforting, he often comes to me. He’s a little daddy’s boy.”

The father’s presence is also beneficial for a baby’s development. “Both parents have their own ways of behaving, playing, and parenting,” says sociologist Valérie Harvey. “These differences stimulate the child and prepare them for becoming part of society.”

Encouraging parents to share parental leave

In 2020, the QPIP took action to encourage fathers to be more involved during parental leave. Since the creation of the QPIP in 2006, “fathers in Quebec have increasingly taken advantage of the program,” explained Marie-Josée Dutil, actuary at the Conseil de gestion de l’assurance parentale, during a Matinée RQAP event in November 2023.

She pointed out that 74 percent of fathers take parental leave in Quebec, compared to 30 percent of fathers in the rest of Canada. But there’s still room for improvement to encourage fathers’ involvement. In fact, this issue was a driving force behind new legislation that was adopted in 2020 to enhance the plan.

One of the new key measures in the legislation is the parental leave sharing bonus. This incentive gives parents access to an additional 4 weeks of benefits (at 55 percent of earnings) if each parent takes at least 8 weeks of parental leave (basic plan), or an additional 3 weeks of benefits (at 75 percent of income) if each parent takes at least 6 weeks of parental leave (special plan).

Initial results show that in 2021, 22 percent of parents met the sharing criteria to earn additional weeks of leave, nearly three times the number of parents that met the criteria in 2020 (8 percent).

After remaining stable for several years, the average duration of leave used by fathers rose from 9 to 10 weeks (including both paternity and parental leave). The Conseil de gestion de l’assurance parentale considers the increase to 10 weeks a considerable shift, and will be better able to assess the impact of the new measure over the next few years. Mothers, for their part, take an average of 46 weeks’ leave in total.

Other ideas

Various speakers at the November 2023 RQAP Matinées event suggested solutions for convincing fathers to take more of the available leave. Here are a few examples:

• Dispel the idea that parental leave is intended for the mother, who then “gives” weeks to the father.
• Encourage co-parenting right from the start of pregnancy.
• Ensure that perinatal services and professionals include fathers in their approach.
• Promote the benefits of fathers’ involvement.
• Raise awareness in the workplace, especially in male-dominated sectors, so that employers become more open to requests from fathers who want to take advantage of their parental leave.
• Encourage parents to learn about all the available measures and options offered by the QPIP.

Every year, some 130,000 parents take a few weeks or months of leave from work to care for their newborns. Although most employers are understanding, not all parents are so lucky.

When sociologist Valérie Harvey told her boss that she was expecting, he congratulated her. But one of the other executives wasn’t impressed. “She said, ‘Again?!’—as if I had a brood of children, even though it was only my second,” recalls Valérie, who has a 2-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son. “Then, anytime I had a doctor’s appointment, it was hard to get time off.”

What’s more, Valérie’s work schedule was changed while she was on leave. When she got back, she was expected to work from noon until eight o’clock at night. “My husband didn’t get home from work until early evening, so we couldn’t make it work,” she says. “I had no choice but to quit. It was very stressful.”

Some parents also miss out on promotions or have their jobs eliminated while on parental leave. “Others get transferred to new teams or assigned less interesting projects when they go back to work,” Valérie explains.

For both women and men, taking several months off work to care for their baby can be more complicated in certain sectors. This is notably often the case for skilled workers, privatesector executives, and selfemployed workers. “Lawyers, for instance, can’t always pick up where they left off if they are away for too long,” says Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, a professor and researcher at TÉLUQ University. “They have to build a new clientele when they get back. Some stay in touch with the office or take a shorter leave just to hold on to clients.”

Fortunately, most parents find that their employers are supportive. For Lee-Christophe, father of 4-month-old Félix and 23-month-old Oscar, things have gone well since he got back to work two months ago. “At the mining company where I work, it’s perfectly acceptable to take parental leave. In fact, my boss just left for a threemonth leave himself!”

Marie-Pier, mother of two young girls, was even offered a promotion while she was on parental leave for her eldest. But it meant that she had to go back to work earlier than planned. “I wanted the job so I said yes. But it was hard on me as a mother, because our daughter would be starting daycare when she was only 7 months old!”

Lingering prejudices

Moms who go back to work early or whose partners take parental leave sometimes feel judged. “Some people will say that they’re putting their career before their family or that their child is way too young to start daycare,” says Valérie. The sociologist attributes these reactions to the fact that society still views mothers as a child’s primary caretaker.

As for dads, people are often shocked when men take long leaves. David, who works in Quebec for an American company, took the entire parental leave when both of his children were born because his wife wanted to go back to work as soon as possible. “When I told my bosses in New York that I was taking several months of parental leave, they couldn’t believe it,” says David. “It’s not part of the American culture for dads to parent solo.”

His local colleagues were largely supportive, but he still had to deal with comments that are also sometimes directed at mothers, such as: “Must be nice to be getting a year-long vacation!” Dads on parental leave also tend to get remarks along the lines of “So what’s your wife going to do while you’re off?”

Tremblay believes that some of the stigmas would go away if more fathers took advantage of parental leave. “The more parents share their parental leave, the more we’ll start to see a domino effect and the more normal it will become,” she adds.

According to a survey conducted by the Conseil de gestion de l’assurance parentale, only 6 percent of fathers have experienced difficulties at work in relation to taking paternity or parental leave. Valérie, whose work led her to do a study on fathers employed in the IT and video game industries, has found that paternity leave is widely accepted. “However, some employers will ask fathers to choose a quieter period or to split their leave in two,” she notes. What’s more, dads are often not replaced when they take a paternity leave of 3 to 5 weeks, which means extra work for their coworkers.

At the same time, companies tend to put up more resistance when men decide to take a portion of the available parental leave. “Dads have to make compromises, such as working a little or keeping an eye on their projects during their time off,” says Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay. “By comparison, it’s rare for a woman to be asked to work while on leave.”

According to a 2021 survey of people responsible for family-work balance in their workplace, a large majority (82 percent) said it was “completely acceptable” for fathers to take weeks of parental leave. Just over 20 percent, however, said that new fathers should not be absent for several months at a time. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they were in favour of sharing parental leave as equally as possible between the two parents, while 40 percent said the majority of weeks should go to the mother. This survey was carried out by Léger for Concilivi and involved 1,000 participants.

Parents planning to take parental leave must be prepared to adjust to a reduced income. Here are some tips on how to get by with less money.

New parents registered for the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) can opt to claim benefits under either the basic plan or the special plan.

Under the basic plan, maternity benefits (for a pregnant person who has given birth), paternity benefits (for a parent who has not given birth), and adoption benefits, as well as the first 7 weeks of parental leave, correspond to 70 percent of your gross salary. The remaining weeks of leave are paid at 55 percent. Under the special plan, all benefits are paid out at 75 percent, but the leave period is shorter.

The maximum earnings used to calculate parental insurance benefits was $91,000 in 2023 and $94,000 in 2024. The maximum income is adjusted annually on January 1.

Regardless of which plan they choose, parents will earn less money during parental leave. For example, under the basic plan—the more popular option—a parent who earns $770 a week would receive $539 during the weeks paid at 70 percent and $423.50 a week during the remainder of their leave. Under the special plan, the same individual would receive $577.50 a week. Some parents can take this temporary decrease in income in stride, but for others, such as single moms or parents who earn the minimum wage, it can be difficult to make ends meet.

Pro tips

We asked Lucie Dal Molin, a financial advisor at Montreal’s ACEF family savings credit union, how parents-to-be can start to prepare for living on a reduced income right from the moment they find out they are expecting. Here are her tips:

1. Take the time to run the various income scenarios through the benefit calculation simulator on the QPIP website. Once you’ve picked a plan, you cannot change your mind.

2. If you don’t have combined finances, decide who will be paying for what during the leave period so that the split is fair. Keep in mind that whoever takes the longest leave will bring in less money.

3. If possible, put some money aside before your baby is born. For instance, try cutting back on dining out and other non-essential spending and put that money into savings instead. You can also save by shopping around for the lowest insurance, phone, and cable rates.

4. Make a budget ahead of time based on your expenses and new earnings, taking into account any reduction in income from work and family allowances. Think about new expenses that you will have after your baby is born (diapers, wipes, baby formula, clothes, toys, stroller, accessories, etc.). This will help you figure out whether you need to modify your spending in other areas. You may need to adjust your budget to make the numbers work. Try an online calculator or consult your local ACEF for help.

5. Buy only the essentials. Ask other parents about their must-have items for babies. Shop in second-hand stores and see if friends have anything they are willing to lend or give away.

Good to know

During your leave, you cannot contribute to employment insurance or parental insurance. You are also unable to contribute to your Quebec pension plan (RRQ). However, this should not affect the annuity you receive when you retire, as the months for which you receive parental benefits may be excluded from the calculation of your annuity.

Does your employer offer a group pension plan? While it may be difficult to continue making contributions with a reduced income, not contributing during your time away may leave you with a lower pension when you retire. Some companies circumvent this issue by allowing their employees to “buy back” these months later. Of course, this would be another expense to plan for in your budget.

If you pay into a group insurance plan, you must continue to pay your premiums during parental leave to retain your benefits. Once again, this may be hard on the budget. Consider asking your boss if you can suspend some of your benefits to give yourself a little breathing room.

If you receive Quebec Family Allowance benefits, you can ask for monthly rather than quarterly payouts. This helps even out your monthly income and makes it easier to stick to a budget. You can make this request on the Retraite Québec website.

Source: Naître et grandir magazine, May–June 2018 Research and writing: Nathalie Vallerand and Julie Leduc Scientific review: Laurence Charton, sociologist and researcher at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) Updated: July 2024

Photos: GettyImages/Aleksandarkanic, Maxim Morin, GettyImages/aleksandarnaki