Abstract: Aggregate difference-in-difference methodology is used to measure the effects caused by the two-week, fully paid, paternity leave scheme introduced in Spain in 2007. Using data from the Luxembourg Income Study Database (LIS), the labour outcomes of mothers whose husband could make use of paternity leave are compared to those of non-mothers and mothers who had given birth before the introduction of leave. The results suggest that the introduction of paternity leave in Spain had

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... effects on mothers: statistically significant improvements in mothers' conditions are found in terms of employment rates and wages. The results from this study also suggest that exposure to fully paid paternity leave may increase the mothers' likelihood of working full-time, but this was not statistically significant. Interestingly, all of these improvements do not appear to come at the expense of fathers, who are largely unaffected by the introduction of paternity leave in terms of labour outcomes. Although the Spanish 2007 reform has been previously studied in terms of the effects on fertility, domestic duties, and employment rates (Farré and González, 2019; Bacheron, 2021), to the knowledge of the author this is the first analysis on labour outcomes that also considers the effects on wages of both mothers and fathers. By April 2022 the EU Directive (EU Directive 2019/1158) which introduces 10 days of fully paid father-specific leave in all Member States will have to be fully adopted in all the Union. These results and the existing literature may give some indication of what the full adoption of the Directive may produce in other countries.