Maia, Ana Sofia MonteiroPereira, Margarida Miguel Costeira E.Amaro, Joana Maria CorreiaFraga, Sílvia Jesus da SilvaMamelund, Svenn ErikPerelman, Julian AlejandroLeão, Teresa Isabel Costa2026-01-142026-01-142025-121062-1024PURE: 148961978PURE UUID: 2d6e9ccd-9146-4cae-870d-881026476247Scopus: 105020091011WOS: 001603986200001http://hdl.handle.net/10362/199049Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.Across Europe, changes in the labour market structure and fertility rates have been pressuring countries to adopt policies that support parenthood. Previous research has analysed parental leaves but has not compared other types of family support, such as access to childcare services or work arrangements. This study aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of the public policies implemented in 2022/2023 across 12 European countries through document analysis. Despite the international regulations, high heterogeneity was found. Some countries, such as Sweden and Norway, promoted well-compensated individual parental leaves, higher leave take-up rates among mothers and fathers, working time flexibility, and full-time childcare services. Conversely, others, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal, showed limited public spending, fragmented public childcare services, short well-paid parental leaves, and an imbalance in leave take-up rates among mothers and fathers. This comparative analysis highlights and discusses the existing policy options according to countries’ economic, social, and demographic outcomes.14986943engChildren’s allowancesFlexible work arrangementsGenderParental leaveParenthoodPublic policiesDevelopmental and Educational PsychologyLife-span and Life-course StudiesSDG 3 - Good Health and Well-beingjournal article10.1007/s10826-025-03194-whttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105020091011