<p>The question of whether paternity leave can materially alter women&rsquo;s career outcomes has become a critical point of inquiry in contemporary debates on gender equality, labour regulation, and economic reform. Despite global evidence that men&rsquo;s participation in early childcare significantly reduces the motherhood penalty and improves women&rsquo;s long-term labour market outcomes<a href="#_bookmark9">1</a>India&#39;s policy landscape remains marked by legislative silence and cultural inertia. The absence of a statutory paternity leave framework&mdash;contrasted sharply with the comprehensive, father-inclusive parental leave regime of Sweden<a href="#_bookmark10">2</a>&mdash;reveals a deeper structural disconnect between legal reform, workplace realities, and entrenched gender norms<a href="#_bookmark11">3</a>. While Indian labour law has expanded maternity protections, this unilateral emphasis inadvertently reinforces the patriarchal assumption that childcare is exclusively a woman&rsquo;s responsibility<a href="#_bookmark12">4</a>, thereby intensifying the very inequalities the law purports to remedy.</p>

<p>This paper argues that the limited uptake of caregiving roles by men is not merely a social habit but a symptom of a broader institutional and economic architecture that structurally devalues unpaid domestic<a href="#_bookmark13">5</a>. The persistence of the glass ceiling in India is thus closely linked to the legal invisibility of fathers and the economic hyper-visibility of mothers in the sphere of care <a href="#_bookmark14">6</a>. A comparative examination with Sweden&mdash;the global exemplar of gender-neutral and non-transferable paternity leave&mdash; demonstrates how a well-designed leave system can shift societal expectations, equalise career interruptions, and facilitate women&rsquo;s upward mobility within the labour market<a href="#_bookmark15">7</a>. The failure to establish similar reforms in India exposes a fundamental &ldquo;equality gap&rdquo;: a space where symbolic commitments to gender justice coexist with the practical perpetuation of women&rsquo;s economic disadvantage <a href="#_bookmark16">8</a>. Ultimately, this paper contends that without legislating and normalising paternity leave, India&rsquo;s aspirations for workplace equality will remain aspirational rather than transformative<a href="#_bookmark17">9</a>, revealing a critical blindspot in the nation&rsquo;s pursuit of substantive gender parity.</p>

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