Pedro Manuel Bellón

🚀 PhD applications open on 1 Dec!

The UOC launches the IN2TIC MSCA COFUND call with 12 predoctoral contracts in digital & social impact research
@HorizonEU

Apply until 31 Jan 👇

‼️Key takeaways‼️
Early evidence suggests that expanded paternity leave can ease the motherhood penalty only where intrafamily equality already exists. Legal parity opens the door — but household dynamics determine who walks through it.

(⚠️short-term effects⚠️)

One more 📊 Subjective perceptions: 59% of mothers say they sacrificed more career opportunities than their partner — and the reform does not significantly shift this perception. Even with longer paternity leave, most women continue to feel the weight of the motherhood penalty.

👨‍🍼A central mechanism is increased father involvement: in equal-income couples, the share of mothers who said paternal caregiving helped them return full-time jumped from 5% to 36%.

📈 … in equal-earning couples, the reform makes a clear difference. Mothers return to work sooner and more often in full-time positions: immediate return rises 51% → 70%, and full-time return 47% → 62%.

Overall, the reform did not make most mothers return to work earlier, nor did it generally increase full-time employment after leave. BUT…🤔

💭👨‍💻We analyse one of Spain’s most ambitious social reforms — the 2021 equalisation of maternity and paternity leave to 16 fully paid weeks — and ask a key question: Can expanded paternity leave reduce the motherhood penalty?

Paternity Leave and the Motherhood Penalty: How Within‐Couple Inequality–Conditions Policy Impact Motherhood-related labour market penalties remain a major driver of the gender employment gap. Father-specific paternity leave is often promoted as a policy tool to support maternal employment, yet e...

🆕📢 New publication alert! Our article is now out in Social Policy & Administration.
W/Dani M. Marinova

🌐Paternity leave, motherhood penalty and Spanish reform
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We are pleased to announce that the Call for Abstracts for the 3rd Early Career Workshop on Comparative Social and Public Policy (COSPPO) is now open. It will take place on 23–24 April 2026 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and is organised by @igopbcn.bsky.social

Form: acortar.link/6A6JjZ

📢 Call open!
We are hiring a Postdoctoral Researcher for the EU-funded project TaCT-FoRSED, which studies how conspiracy theories affect democratic attitudes.

ℹ️ Info: tauler.seu-e.cat/detall?idEns...

🔗 Application: seleccio.uab.cat/seleccio/log...

From the research group @dec-gr.bsky.social, we are glad to share our new Scientific Data article presenting the release of the first 12 waves of the Spanish Political Attitudes Panel (POLAT).

rdcu.be/eIkms

Sexism and the Gender Gap in Support for the Radical Right Using survey data from Spain we show that the gender gap in the probability of voting for the radical-right party Vox is mainly due to men having higher levels of modern sexism than women. We find ...

We have a new paper out with @gricoc.bsky.social in @jwpp.bsky.social (this time I swear I am going to post the right link): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

La tristeza como valor democrático contra la ultraderecha Frente a la ira, el recurso principal en la evolución de Vox, la tristeza desactiva el impulso de castigo. Las autoras del estudio también sostienen que se ha sobreestimado el papel ‘revolucionario’ d...

A raíz de nuestro paper en @sespjournal.bsky.social con @galais.bsky.social escribimos en @ctxt.es sobre el inesperado efecto de la tristeza en el voto a la ultraderecha y sobre el papel no tan movilizador de otras emociones.

ctxt.es/es/20250901/...

🧲 We are hiring!
✨ PhD position to join @dec-gr.bsky.social
🏁 4-year FPI contract
🎓 Pol Sci / Social Sci background + Master’s + English
📧 Send expression of interest with CV and motivation letter to gr.dec@uab.cat
🔗 tinyurl.com/yc3epmv2

Beyond anger and fear: the demobilizing role of sadness in far-right voting in Spain This study investigates emotional dynamics behind support for Vox in Spain, offering a case study of far-right support. It addresses prior research’s narrow focus on anger and fear, and its tendenc...

🚨My first published article together with @galais.bsky.social is out:

“Beyond fear and anger: the demobilizing role of sadness in far right voting in Spain”

In this article we address the emotional dynamics behind support for Vox in Spain.

🧵What do we find?

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Excited to be in Milan for the #ESPAnet conference! Lots of inspiring conversations and fresh ideas on social policy 😊

Some good news: my second thesis article is out in Journal of Social Policy! 🎉 @socialpolicyuk.bsky.social

I explore how Spain adopted a minimum income scheme in 2020 - despite polarized politics. The twist? (Left) parties, unions, and territorial politics matter.

It's open access:

Last day at the 10th International Conference of Community, Work and Family where I had the opportunity of presenting two ongoing papers. Many thanks for this thrilling experience and congratulations to the organizing committee for the event.

📢Next Friday 28th I will present my paper on how life transitions associated with caregiving and gender roles influence populist attitudes.

Registration here: uiowa.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Affective Polarization in the Face of Crisis: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and De-Escalation Policies in Spain Abstract. Prior research on affective polarization (AP) has often overlooked short-term variations due to external shocks and crises, which have significan

📢 New paper by @galais.bsky.social
& me on Affective Polarization (AP)! Analyzing short-term changes in AP with panel data, we show that Spain’s COVID-19 de-escalation policies lowered AP, with effects mediated by perceptions of elite ideological divides. academic.oup.com/ijpor/articl...

📢Difusión pls!

🧑‍🎓Investigación UAB

Si eres padre (♂️) de niños menores de 5 años, queremos conocer tu experiencia sobre conciliación laboral y familiar.

🗓️ 1 hora | 🌐 Virtual | 🤝 Voluntario
💬 Grupos de discusión
👉 Inscríbete: forms.office.com/e/gNUEF0aFRC

¡Gracias! 🙌

A few weeks ago I wrote some somewhat intuitive but somewhat random hypotheses. Now I have the results and they follow my predictions to the letter.
Wizard or sociologist? 😅🔮

🚨 New article alert! 🚨

Thrilled to share our latest open-access article in Politics & Gender: “Beyond Likes: The Role of Influencers in Promoting Views about Feminism and Anti-Feminism in Spain”, w/ @martafraile.bsky.social and @pzuluaga.bsky.social . 📢

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🧵👇 Thread

Excited to have arrived at KU Leuven for my research visit with the Centre for Sociological Research, ReSPOND group! Looking forward to engaging in meaningful discussions and collaborations.

🚨 RA Job alert! 🚨
I'm looking for a part-time RA (6 months) to join my project on gender-based violence at UAB. 📊 The RA will develop a unique dataset on GBV indicators in Spain💡

🌍 Remote-friendly
💰 Competitive salary

➡️Full details about the position can be found here: www.leirerincon.com/project

Hey there! Bluesky account for academic stuff 👨‍💻📑🤓