According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, "Parental leave" is defined as the 'employment-protected leave of absence for employed parents, which is often supplementary to specific maternity and paternity leave periods, and frequently, but not in all countries, follows the period of maternity leave.'

In a resolution on the EU strategy for Equality between women and men post 2015, the European Parliament highlighted the importance of equality in parental leave: ‘the principle of equal treatment of women and men implies that there must be no discrimination whatsoever, be it direct or indirect, including on account of motherhood, fatherhood and the fact of shouldering family responsibilities’
The EP has also expressed its support and interest in legislative decisions on women’s participation in the labour market, gender equality and work-life balance through other related resolutions (on maternity leave, women's labour market participation, female poverty and gender equality).