scholarly journals Family Policies and Family Outcomes in OECD Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 193-217
Author(s):  
Willem Adema ◽  
Chris Clarke ◽  
Olivier Thévenon
Keyword(s):  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Family Outcomes ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
New Family ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

AbstractFamilies in OECD member countries have changed dramatically in recent decades. Across almost all OECD countries, couples are marrying and starting a family later than ever before. Fertility rates are low. Divorce and re-partnering have become much more common, giving rise to a diversity of new family forms. The (male) single-earner family model, previously dominant, is now largely a thing of the past. This chapter examines how families and family policies have changed in OECD countries in recent decades. It starts with an overview of changes in families, in partnering behaviours, in family living arrangements, and in family work arrangements. The chapter then turns to the evolution of family policy and the policy response to changing families, such as increases in public Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) support and the provision of fathers-only paid parental leave. It concludes by highlighting important key challenges ahead, including how policy must adapt to growing inequalities between families.

scholarly journals Both Parents Working: Challenges and Strains in Managing the Reconciliation of Career and Family Life in Dual-Career Families. Empirical Evidence from Austria

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerlinde Mauerer
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Dual Career ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Male Breadwinner

The presented empirical data analysis aims to shed light on the persistence of gender inequalities in sharing parenting responsibilities and addresses possible improvements for realising gender equality. In recent decades, family policies in the European Union have targeted the increase of men’s shares in parental leave (= paternal leave) as well as women’s participation in the labour market. Following the results of the Lisbon Treaty in 2000, many EU member states including Austria introduced non-transferable fathers’ quotas in their regulations on parental leave. Subsequently, the share of men on parental leave increased. Nevertheless, both in number and duration, men’s childcare allowance claims have remained lower than women’s claims. This paper investigates shared parental leave practices based on 36 interviews with fathers on paternal leave, and 14 follow-up interviews with parents after paternal leave. The qualitative data reveal the challenges that arise when both parents are faced with reconciling work and family during and after parental leave. Although the data showed that progress has been made in reducing gender inequality, the interviews make clear that employers’ attitudes perpetuate traditional gendered expectations of parental leave claims and still focus on images of a male breadwinner. Also, the distribution of gainful and family work reveals gender inequalities. The paper therefore discusses challenges that arise in the realisation of current gender and family policies in order to provide a basis for making changes that further enhance the opportunities for dual-career couples within the organisation of parental leave laws.

scholarly journals National Family Policies and Mothers’ Employment: How Earnings Inequality Shapes Policy Effects across and within Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Hook ◽  
Eunjeong Paek
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Maternal Employment ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Earnings Inequality ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Policy Effects ◽  
National Family ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

Although researchers generally agree that national family policies play a role in shaping mothers’ employment, there is considerable debate about whether, how, and why policy effects vary across country contexts and within countries by mothers’ educational attainment. We hypothesize that family policies interact with national levels of earnings inequality to differentially affect mothers’ employment outcomes by educational attainment. We develop hypotheses about the two most commonly studied family policies—early childhood education and care (ECEC) and paid parental leave. We test these hypotheses by establishing a novel linkage between the EU-Labour Force Survey and the Current Population Survey 1999 to 2016 ( n = 23 countries, 299 country-years, 1.2 million mothers of young children), combined with an original collection of country-year indicators. Using multilevel models, we find that ECEC spending is associated with a greater likelihood of maternal employment, but the association is strongest for non-college-educated mothers in high-inequality settings. The length of paid parental leave over six months is generally associated with a lower likelihood of maternal employment, but the association is most pronounced for mothers in high-inequality settings. We call for greater attention to the role of earnings inequality in shaping mothers’ employment and conditioning policy effects.

scholarly journals Paid parental leave and families’ living arrangements

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 182-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Cygan-Rehm ◽  
Daniel Kuehnle ◽  
Regina T. Riphahn
Keyword(s):  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

scholarly journals Paid Parental Leave and Families' Living Arrangements

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Cygan-Rehm ◽  
Daniel Kuehnle ◽  
Regina T. Riphahn
Keyword(s):  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

Comparing the availability of paid parental leave for same-sex and different-sex couples in 34 OECD countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIZABETH WONG ◽  
JUDY JOU ◽  
AMY RAUB ◽  
JODY HEYMANN
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Male Couples ◽  
Paid Leave ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Same Sex Parents

AbstractThe availability of paid family leave has been widely researched in the context of a two-parent household with one mother and one father, yet few studies have explored whether households with same-sex parents have access to equal benefits. Expanding on previous cross-country comparisons of parental leave policies, this study examines parental leave policies in 34 OECD countries to compare the total duration of paid parental leave available to same-sex and different-sex parent families within a country. We find that same-sex female and different-sex couples receive equal durations of leave in the majority of countries. However, same-sex male couples often receive shorter durations of paid parental leave compared to both different-sex and same-sex female couples. In addition to addressing the implications of laws and policies surrounding same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption on parental leave availability, we highlight specific aspects of paid leave policies that may explain the unequal durations of paid leave between same-sex and different-sex couples.

Paid parental leave policies for single-parent households: an examination of legislative approaches in 34 OECD countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Jou ◽  
Elizabeth Wong ◽  
Daniel Franken ◽  
Amy Raub ◽  
Jody Heymann
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Single Parent ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

Toward Thriving Families

2020 ◽  
pp. 213-226
Author(s):  
Maxine Eichner
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Free Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
The Many

This chapter addresses three concerns that might arise when considering whether to adopt pro-family policies. First, it assesses whether adopting pro-family programs will make our economy less competitive. In answer, it demonstrates that countries that have adopted pro-family policies have experienced as much or more growth in GDP per hour worked in the last decades as the United States has. Furthermore, the employment rates in countries that have adopted pro-family policy are actually higher than our own. Second, the chapter considers whether the costs of pro-family programs, including paid parental leave, child benefits, and universal daycare and prekindergarten, would be prohibitively high. It demonstrates that the additional costs of pro-family programs could be readily absorbed either simply by shifting existing total social welfare spending to spend more on children publicly without paying a penny more overall or by raising taxes in a manner that placed no added burden on middle- and low-income families. Third and finally, the chapter considers whether pro-family policy would stifle Americans’ freedom. Free-market proponents who equate unregulated capitalism with freedom, this section shows, overlook the many ways that market pressures are increasingly constraining Americans’ lives.

Childcare deserts and distributional disadvantages: the legacies of split childcare policies and programmes in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Prentice ◽  
Linda A. White
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Third Order ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Current State ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Order Change ◽  
Recent Government

AbstractEarly childhood education and care (ECEC) policies and services in Canada exhibit marked gaps in access, creating ‘childcare deserts’ and distributional disadvantages. Cognate family policies that support children and families, such as parental leave and child benefits, are also underdeveloped. This article examines the current state of ECEC services in Canada and the reasons behind the uncoordinated array of services and policy, namely, a liberal welfare state tradition that historically has encouraged private and market-based care, a comparatively decentralised federal system that militates against coordinated policy-making, and a welfare state built on gendered assumptions about care work. The article assesses recent government initiatives, including the federal 2017 Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care, concluding that existing federal and provincial initiatives have limited potential to bring about paradigmatic third-order change.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document