To what extent are working fathers informed about paternity leave, do they take advantage of this opportunity? the answers to these and other questions were reflected in the research conducted at the initiative of the Armenian office of the United Nations Population Fund, which was carried out by the YSU Innovation Center for Social Research.
The research was carried out in March 2026 in Aragatsotn, Shirak, Lori and Tavush marzes. 384 working fathers participated in the survey. “Armenpress”At the press conference held in the press hall of the UN Population Fund in Armenia, Lusine Sargsyan stated that the goal is to reveal the level of paternity leave use, to highlight the problems.
“It is no coincidence that today we present the results of the research. Armenia celebrates Father’s Day for the second year already. I congratulate all fathers, wishing them health and success. As for the research, we tried to highlight all the gaps and problems faced by fathers. We hope that the issues raised will be useful for our partners in the state system in the future to understand in what direction we should move forward in the following years,” said Lusine Sargsyan.
Presenting the actual results of the research, Arem Mkrtchyan, director of YSU Social Research Innovation Center, noted that they targeted regional centers, the second largest cities in the region, and villages with the largest population.
“The level of paternity leave use remains low. According to the results of the research, about 11 percent took advantage of this opportunity. On the other hand, it is a positive indicator that among fathers who are informed about this right, the rate of using this leave is higher,” said Arem Mkrtchyan, emphasizing that the low level of awareness directly affects the process of using paternity leave.
In addition, other factors, such as the nature of fathers’ employment, influence the non-use of paternity leave or the creation of restrictions. In other words, in many cases, they do work of such a nature that in case of vacation, the question of replacement arises, which in some cases is difficult for the employer. Another factor is thinking.
“As we know, especially in marzes, there is the factor of high-class lifestyle. There are people at home who take care of children, and that is the reason why some of the Armenian respondents stated that child care is a woman’s duty. In other words, it turns out that not taking paternity leave is either a problem of mindset or there is no need for it, because the other family members at home support the mother in this matter,” said Arem Mkrtchyan.
It turns out that work should be done in the direction of citizens’ awareness, there is also a problem with the notions of gender roles.
Zhora Sargsyan, head of the Department of Labor and Employment of the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, noted that the research raises important issues, which will be taken into account in future work.
“Yes, raising awareness is very important. We are carrying out noticeable work in that direction, which will be continued. As for the policy implemented by us, I should mention that there is a wider range of regulations in the RA Labor Code, which refers to the child caregiver. We also mean fathers here. For example, fathers also have the right to take childcare leave until the child turns 3 years old. The job is maintained during this time. The next example, men, during the period of their wife’s pregnancy and childbirth, have the right to decide when they want to use the annual paid leave,” said Zhora Sargsyan.
The last change concerns parenting time, which can be used by both fathers and mothers. Those who have children up to 12 years old can take advantage of parental time while maintaining their salary. 30 minutes for up to 2 children, 1 hour for 3 or more children.
