How leave is split

How leave is split: what are the options?

Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.

1. 1. Birth parent takes all

   The parent who gave birth takes all the leave.

2. 2. Partner takes a short overlap

   The other parent takes a short time off alongside at the start.

3. 3. Partner takes a solo block afterward

   After the birth parent returns to work, the other parent takes a stretch at home alone with the baby.

4. 4. Roughly equal

   You each take about the same amount of leave.

How leave is split: what does the evidence say?

Evidence leans one way. Research or guidance points in a direction, but it's thin, small or correlational.

Quebec's reserved five weeks raised fathers' leave-taking by 53 points and their domestic work years later

Sources

• Patnaik

What else is worth knowing?

How you divide leave affects how confident each of you becomes with the baby. Time alone as the main carer tends to build skills and habits that last. Some couples overlap at the start for support; others take turns to extend the time a parent is home.

Questions to ask each other

• Do we want to be off together at first, one after the other, or both?
• What would the second parent want to be able to do alone with the baby?
• How would our split change if the birth is difficult?

More in Roles, work and the couple

• Partnership model
• Who scales back at work
• Parental leave length
• Night duty
• Mental load and task ownership
• Default parent for sick days, school and doctor
• Protecting the couple relationship
• Intimacy after the birth
• Each parent's own time and identity
• Burnout prevention
• When one parent travels or works long hours