This paper analyses the extent to which individual and workplace characteristics and regional policies influence the use and duration of parental leave in Spain. The research is based on a sample of 125,165 people, and 6,959 parental leaves stemming from the ‘Sample of Working Life Histories’ (SWLH), 2006. The SWLH consists of administrative register data which include information from three different sources: Social Security, Municipality and Income Tax Registers. We adopt a simultaneous equations approach to analyse the use (logistic regression) and duration (event history analysis) of parental leave, which allows us to control for endogeneity and censored observations. We argue that the Spanish parental leave scheme increases gender and social inequalities insofar as reinforces gender role specialization, and only encourages the reconciling of work and family life among workers with a good position in the labour market (educated employees with high and stable working status).