Justice Principles in the Allocation of Parental Leave Within Couples

This study investigates principle of distributive justice in parental leave decisions by examining how individuals in Germany allocate leave between mothers and fathers. Despite policies promoting gender equality, parental leave use remains highly gendered and unequally distributed among couples. Using a multifactorial survey design, the study manipulated gender, income, occupation, and job satisfaction in randomized vignettes of dual-earner couples (N = 3,012 vignette evaluations). Findings reveal that justice perceptions are shaped more by occupational roles and labor market positioning than by gender alone—with job satisfaction emerging as the strongest predictor. While respondents allocated slightly more parental leave to mothers—resulting in a gender gap of 11%—job satisfaction and income differences produced much larger differences. In couple scenarios where one partner clearly fits the "ideal worker" role—being a manager, highly job-satisfied, and the higher earner—respondents allocated significantly less leave to that partner: 42% less for fathers and 26% less for mothers compared to their partners. This highlights a significant shift towards valuing occupational roles and economic considerations in parental leave decisions, rather than strictly adhering to traditional gender norms.