Estonia's current parental‑leave system took effect in 2004. In 2017, 12 percent of Estonian fathers used the option of taking shared parental leave. Fathers with significantly higher incomes than mothers were more likely to take leave, according to a study by Estonian population researchers.

"International comparisons confirm that Estonia's parental‑benefit system is one of the most generous in Europe, and likely in the world," said Tallinn University professor Allan Puur. Paid parental leave in Estonia lasts up to 18 months, during which parents receive a benefit equal to up to twice the average wage of the year before last. Both working and non‑working fathers can apply for the shared parental benefit.

His doctoral student, junior researcher Sanan Abdullayev, focused one of his dissertation studies specifically on fathers' use of parental benefits and parental leave in Estonia. Together with Puur, he analysed data from the population register, the Social Insurance Board and the medical birth register from 2004–2018.

The sample included all couples whose children were born during the study period and whose fathers were registered. "We found that fathers' use of parental leave depended mainly on the parents' income levels and the income gap between them," Abdullayev said. Fathers in the highest income quartile were more than 30 times more likely to take parental benefits than fathers in the lowest quartile.

A flexible system enables loopholes

Since 2004, Estonia has had an income‑based parental‑benefit system that fully compensates parents' previous earnings during the benefit period. In the first years after the reform, only two percent of fathers used the benefit. Abdullayev observed increased interest only from 2007, when fathers were allowed to use the benefit from the child's 70th day of life. Previously, this was possible only from six months.

During the economic downturn of the late 2000s, the number of fathers using the benefit fell slightly, but recovered as the economy improved. "By the end of the study period, in 2017, the share reached 12 percent. According to fresher Statistics Estonia data from 2024, fathers made up just under 20 percent of shared parental‑leave users. Over such a long period, this is a relatively small increase," Abdullayev noted.

The researchers were primarily interested in the factors influencing fathers' decisions to use or not use the benefit. The most important factor was the father's income relative to the mother's. "Essentially, fathers were more likely to use the benefit when they earned significantly more than mothers," Abdullayev said. In such cases, fathers often received the benefit but continued working, while mothers stayed home with the child.

A similar result is known from an earlier study, which found that more than half of fathers receiving parental benefits continued working during the benefit period. In another study in Abdullayev's dissertation, it was confirmed that as many as 70 percent of fathers with one or two children continued receiving wages during parental leave.

Estonia's parental‑benefit system became even more flexible in 2018. Previously, the benefit was reduced according to a formula if the parent worked while receiving it. After the change, parents could earn up to half the benefit ceiling — three times the average wage — without any reduction.

This meant that a parent earning the average wage who continued working saw no reduction in their benefit. "A recent analysis by the Unemployment Insurance Fund shows that after 2018, many mothers who had been working left their jobs voluntarily after childbirth and registered as unemployed to maintain health insurance. Fathers, meanwhile, took out the benefit," Abdullayev said.

According to Puur, two factors encouraged this behaviour. One was the ability to receive the benefit while working extensively. The other was the high benefit ceiling — up to three times the average wage.

Under these conditions, it was often financially most advantageous for families if the father used the benefit while continuing to work. "If a low‑income mother had taken the benefit in her own name, the family's total income would have been lower. This is the main peculiarity of the Estonian system and explains why high‑income fathers have been more eager than average to use parental benefits," Puur said.

The original purpose of the parental benefit was to allow one parent to temporarily stop working after childbirth without reducing the family's income. Because the system allowed parents to receive both the benefit and wages simultaneously, some families used it to temporarily increase income. "This is an important finding — even seemingly small details, such as whether and to what extent working while receiving the benefit is allowed, play a significant role in shaping people's behaviour," Puur noted.

The Nordic example

To provide context, Abdullayev and Puur compared Estonia with Nordic countries. For example, Estonia lacked a father‑specific leave portion during the study period (2004–2018) — a portion that mothers cannot use. "Nordic countries have had this since the 1990s, and studies show it encourages fathers to take leave to that extent," Abdullayev said.

Nordic studies also show that fathers with higher education take parental leave more often. "This is explained by the fact that higher‑educated fathers tend to have more egalitarian and less traditional views on sharing childcare. In Estonia, we also found a link between education and fathers' leave‑taking, but the link was entirely explained by higher‑educated fathers' higher incomes. After accounting for income, we found no independent link between education and leave‑taking," Abdullayev said.

According to Puur, parental benefits should allow one parent to fully or partially reduce their workload to care for the child. As the study showed, some system details may work against this goal. "This raises the question of whether we really want to encourage situations where a mother who worked before childbirth is forced to register as unemployed to maintain health insurance, while the father continues working and receives the parental benefit," he said.

During the study period, the state paid parental benefits up to three times the average wage; from 1 January 2026, the ceiling is two times the previous year's average wage. The cut affected about 12 percent of beneficiaries — around 3,500 people per year. At the same time, the state removed restrictions on additional earnings. If income exceeds the allowed limit, the benefit is reduced by one euro for every two euros earned above the threshold.

According to Puur, the impact of the 30‑day father‑specific leave introduced in 2020 deserves further study. "It has become quite popular, and future research should examine which types of fathers use it more," he said. Another topic worth studying is what obstacles fathers face in using parental leave and how different ways of using parental benefits relate to the birth of subsequent children.

Sanan Abdullayev and Allan Puur published their findings in the journal Social Policy & Administration.