<mark>The findings from this research suggest policy reforms along three dimensions: labor and parental leave policies, attitudes and social norms around the role of mothers and fathers in childrearing, and the functioning of childcare services. The promotion of paternity and shared parental leave would be an important policy step to achieve a more balanced distribution of care and work responsibilities between men and women. Mexico provides 84 days of paid maternity leave (Ley Federal del Trabajo, Art. 170) and also grants new fathers five days of paid paternity leave (Ley Federal del Trabajo, Art. 132 XXVII). However, it does not mandate paid parental leave, which can provide more time off for both mothers and fathers to care for their children (Women, Business and the Law Database 2020). Fathers’ leave has proven to be effective in stimulating fathers’ involvement in care: Huerta et al. (2013) found that in four OECD countries fathers who take leave for over two weeks were more likely to be involved in childcare during the child’s first year of life. Boll, Leppin and Reich (2014) show that father-specific parental leave led to an increase of over one hour per week spent on childcare in Germany. Incentives for uptake are also very important in this context: Those may include “daddy” quotas that are not transferable or longer shared leaves when the leave is shared (which is the case,</mark> for instance, in Iceland, Germany and Sweden).

<mark>Awareness raising activities around fathers’ involvement and the positive associated outcomes may be needed among fathers, families, the broader population and companies and employers. The findings of this research indeed call for the promotion of the positive effects from men ́s involvement when caring for children, while on the other hand, continuing to promote the economic, labor, social, and political rights of women and strengthening the mechanisms for compliance with these. Changing attitudes and beliefs that underlie the observed patterns is necessary. Information and sensitization campaigns may be important steps towards this direction: An example comes from Finland, where The National Institute for Health and Welfare presented a media campaign (‘It’s Daddy Time!’) which emphasizes the benefits for families, workplaces and society through ads on the radio, websites, testimonials, outdoor marketing materials, the internet and social media (EU 2018).</mark> Another clear takeaway from this research is the potential benefits for families from taking advantage of more flexible work arrangements including flexible hours and home office. Those arrangements would allow women in particular to continue their professional development during the period of the first years of their children’s lives while still being able to attend somewhat to their care needs. Many countries in Europe have established this type of provisions by which mothers but also increasingly fathers can reduce their working hours or ask to work from home during their child ́s early months.

<mark>With regards to childcare policies, the need to strengthen the quality of services, and in particular to guarantee the implementation of security policies such as concrete codes of conduct on how to respond in an emergency situation are evident from this research, appear to be crucial. In addition, the development of a communication strategy would help ensure making the functioning of those centers more transparent. The broader public, which has not been exposed directly to childcare centers, would learn about the advantages from enrollment such as benefits for the child’s development and also about the deliberate efforts made by the government to ensure the quality of</mark> care. Such efforts will likely enhance the trust of potential users.

20