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Parental Leave Policies in 21 Countries
Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality
Rebecca Ray, Janet C. Gornick and John Schmitt
September 2008
Center for Economic and Policy Research
1611 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 400Washington, D.C. 20009202-293-5380
www.cepr.net
Parental Leave Policies in 21 Countries: Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality
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Contents
Executive Summary...........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................4
Parental Leave Policies in 21 Rich Countries................................................................................................6
Parental Leave for Couples.................................................................................................................................6
Public Policies and Employer Practices in the United States................................................................................7
Gender Equality.................................................................................................................................................9
Mothers in a Couple.........................................................................................................................................10
Fathers in a Couple.........................................................................................................................................12
Leave Generosity – for Couples, Mothers, and Fathers.....................................................................................13
Gender Equality Index....................................................................................................................................14
Financing Structure..........................................................................................................................................16
Scheduling Flexibility.......................................................................................................................................17
Best Practices....................................................................................................................................................18
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................20
References.........................................................................................................................................................22
About the Authors
Rebecca Ray is a research assistant at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR); JanetC. Gornick is professor of political science and sociology at the Graduate Center, the City University of New York; and John Schmitt is a senior economist at CEPR.
Acknowledgements
We thank Heather Boushey and Dean Baker for many helpful comments and Nichole Szembrot forresearch assistance.
Center for Economic and Policy Research, September 2008
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Executive Summary
This report reviews the national policies of 21 high-income economies, as of June 2008. We focuson two key aspects of parental leave policies: the level of support provided to parents; and thedegree to which leave policies promote an egalitarian distribution between mothers and fathers of the time devoted to child care.
Parental Leave: Time and Money
Parental leave laws can support new parents in two complementary ways: by offering job-protectedleave and by offering financial support during that leave.In terms of time, all 21 countries analyzed here protect at least one parent's job for a period of weeks, months, or years around the birth of a child. This job protection allows parents to take timeto care for their infant or young child secure in the knowledge that they will be able to return to thesame (or a comparable) job at the end of the leave period. Total protected job leave available to couples varies widely across the 21 countries, from only 14 weeks in Switzerland to over 300 weeks (about six years) in France and Spain. The United States, with 24 weeks of combined protected job leave for a two-parent family, ranks 20th (out of 21);Switzerland provides fewer weeks of protected job leave (14), but provides financial support of 80percent of a mother's usual earnings during that leave.In terms of money, almost all of the 21 countries also provide direct financial support for parentsduring at least part of the protected leave. Most countries provide between three months and oneyear of full-time-equivalent paid leave; Sweden, the most generous of the countries examined,provides 40 weeks of full-time-equivalent paid leave. The United States is one of only two countriesto offer no paid parental leave. Australia also offers no paid leave, but supports new parents with asubstantial financial “baby bonus” regardless of whether they take parental leave.
The Case of the United States
The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) sets a minimum standard for parental leave, butdue to the exclusion of small employers and short-tenure workers, about 40 percent of U.S. workersare not eligible for the FMLA. In general, U.S. employers as a group have not stepped in to fill thegap. While about 60 percent of workers are eligible for FMLA-related leave, only about one-fourthof U.S. employers offer fully paid "maternity-related leave" of any duration, and one-fifth of U.S.employers offer no maternity-related leave of any kind, paid or unpaid. Private employers do notappear to be narrowing the statutory gap in parental leave entitlements between the United Statesand the rest of the high-income countries analyzed here.
Parental Leave: Gender Equality
In the absence of paid parental leave policies, traditional gender roles that involve women as“caregivers” and men as “providers”, and the typically lower earnings of mothers (relative to fathers)in the labor market, create strong incentives for women to reduce their employment and take on alarge majority of child care responsibilities. The most obvious problems associated with suchoutcomes are that women bear a disproportionate burden of child care responsibilities and pay botha short- and a long-term penalty in the labor market. A related issue is that traditional gender rolesand labor-market outcomes work together to deprive men of the opportunity to participate actively in providing infant and child care.
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