LEGISLATIVE HARMONISATION ON GENDER ISSUES IN ROMANIA: THE CASE OF PARENTAL LEAVE AND SOME OF ITS IMPLICATIONS
LEGISLATIVE HARMONISATION ON GENDER ISSUES IN ROMANIA: THE CASE OF PARENTAL LEAVE AND SOME OF ITS IMPLICATIONS

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the case of paid parental leave within the larger framework of the legislative changes on gender issues in Romania, in the context of joining the European Union. Romania can be seen as still a patriarchal society, where traditional gender roles within the family persist. However, parental leave might be used by either the mother or the father, conditioned upon previous employment and contribution to the public social insurance fund. In 2007, around one fifth of parents on childcare leave were fathers. Based on secondary analysis, it is argued that fathers usually take the opportunity of receiving state benefits for engaging in informal work to supplement the family budget. The active role in raising the children is still performed by the mothers. The question is whether, on the long run, the prevalence of the economic reasoning over the perpetuation of gender models will prove beneficial for increasing women’s independence, especially for the ones already in the workforce.

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