Paid Parental Leave in Serbia: The Gender Perspective

Abstract

For the last two decades, Serbian family policies have gone through several changes in accordance with contemporary trends and changes in family life and also influenced by EU regulations and recommendations. Current legislation is in line with the gender equality principle, enabling both parents to exercise their rights and to pursue a work-life balance. However, when it comes to paid parental leave, the Serbian legal framework is considered inflexible in terms of choosing the combination of length of leave and the remuneration amount. In this paper, we argue that Serbian parental leave policies must be analysed in relation to the specific context of a (unfinished) post-socialist transition at the semi-periphery of Europe, population decline and strong familism. The burden of parenthood is still predominantly on women’s shoulders, even though ideas about a “new fatherhood”, more involved in child rearing, have become more widespread. Whether they are employed or not, women/mothers remain the primary caregivers, while the typical Serbian family can be described as a male breadwinner model.

Keywords

• paid parental leave
• gender perspective
• regulation
• practice
• serbia