As outlined in Chapter 7, the first empirical step involves conducting a thorough analysis of the parental leave policy designs in the five selected countries. This chapter aims to empirically apply the first sub-research question, stating: How should a parental leave policy be designed to achieve maximal egalitarianism? Thus, this analysis examines the degree to which current policies promote egalitarian family models, particularly the universal caregiver model. The chapter is divided into three parts. Section 9.1 provides a detailed presentation of the parental leave policies of each country. The policy indices for each policy are calculated using the analysis grid introduced in Chapter 7. Section 9.2 discusses the results, including the differences between countries and the variance between the policy ideal index and the policy implementation index within a country. Section 9.3 presents the proportion of family models actually lived, grouped by country, using survey data. It further discusses the extent to which the lived family models reflect the countries’ parental leave policies.