What Would They Do? Childcare under Parental Leave and Reduced Hours Options ROBERT DRAGO* Time diary data are used to simulate the effects of parental leave and reduced hours arrangements on childcare time among parents of infants. Estimates suggest that coupled fathers would apply approximately 70 percent of working time reductions under leave or reduced hours to childcare. Both coupled and single mothers translate working time reductions into childcare at higher rates. The analysis highlights inequalities across lines of gender, marital status, and socioeconomic status associ- ated with existing policies and suggests policy innovations to both raise parental investments in childcare time and reduce levels of inequality. Introduction GOVERNMENT POLICIES CAN FACILITATE SIMULTANEOUS COMMITMENTS TO EMPLOY- MENT AND TO FAMILY. This study analyzes time use data to reveal the potential effects of two relevant policy options: paid leave for new parents and reduced hours options for parents of young children. The analysis asks whether time freed up by these policies would be used for childcare and addresses implica- tions for social equality. One reason for analyzing childcare time and equality is that work-family policies are typically specified in general terms, or with regard to gender, or by concentrating on caregiving commitments. For example, a study of 173 nations found 169 provided paid maternity leave, but only 66 had paid pater- nity leave (Heymann, Earle, and Hayes 2007). Maternity leave per se is speci- fied in terms of both gender and caregiving responsibilities, while the nations providing paternity leave may have gender-neutral policies specified in terms of caregiving. Neither type of policy is general, because they are not accessible to employees without family responsibilities. Additionally, several nations have implemented ‘‘right to request’’ policies. These permit employees to ask for flexible work arrangements or reduced hours employment. They do not mandate either flexible work or reduced hours. Instead they require employers to consider requests and accept them unless the change * The author’s affiliation is the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. E-mail: drago@iwpr.org. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Vol. 50, No. 4 (October 2011). Ó 2011 Regents of the University of California Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK. 610